flatterus' Nine Days in Wyoming
by flatterus
Summary: Alias Smith and Jones episode with plenty of action, adventure and romance.


****Nine Days in Wyoming****

by flatterus

A Curry and Heyes Mini Book Adventure

Chapter 1  
Wyoming Territory May, 1879  
Wednesday

Old leather creaked under Kid Curry's weight as he coupled his reins with the saddle horn and slid his boot in the stirrup. Grunting, he lifted himself up to mount, paused and leaned against his chestnut colored gelding, Homer. When he threw his leg over the cantle, his partner, Hannibal Heyes broke into a gallop. The quick move sent Homer jigging sideways, dropping Curry in the dirt.

"I hate when you do that!" Kid spat as he leapt to his feet. Dusting off, he quickly threw himself onto the horse in one smooth movement and clung precariously as Homer spun around again. Tightening the rein, he put a heel to his horse, and pulled up next to the grinning Hannibal Heyes.

"Ha ha! Lighten up, Kid! It's a beautiful day!"

Curry removed his hat and ran gloved fingers through his wavy blond hair. "Don't even start, Heyes. I also hate leaving a perfectly good town for no reason."

"Aw c'mon…relax!" The smiling outlaw twisted around in his saddle taking in the grandeur of a Wyoming mountain pass. "Look at this beautiful place! We're doing the right thing, Kid. We already agreed it's too dangerous to remain in one place very long."

Curry grumbled, "Yea, I wasn't there for that conversation. We weren't in Baxter twenty four hours." He reset his silver trimmed hat, adjusting it down over his eyes, just in time for a happy sun to wink at him from behind a hill. "Damn it, Heyes, you know I hate riding out without breakfast!"

"Sounds like you hate everything, today, Kid," Heyes glanced sideways at his partner, "Just when things are going good."

Curry rolled his eyes.

"You can sleep when you're dead, Kid." The dark haired man raised his hand to his eyes to observe the terrain below. Look!" Heyes pointed over his horse's ears at two horsemen in the distance moving across the valley floor to the west. "See? A couple of riders! It is not all that early."

Squinting in the dawning rays of sunlight, Curry viewed the vast valley below. An early start gave the Kansas cousins the flexibility to make their way out of town before too many folks got too curious. In the past several years as partners in crime they had gained such notoriety they were considered the most successful pair of train and bank robbers in the West. Long tired of running, suffering too many nights in jail and close calls, they decided to go straight. This all came at a time when bank safes had become more sophisticated and bank protection techniques increasingly impenetrable. Safes were harder to crack. Sheriffs were getting smarter. Posses were getting faster. They agreed on an honest course after a close call following a foiled train robbery. Stealing just didn't pay like it used to.

In hopes of deterring bandits, a government program offered amnesty to petty thieves and minor outlaws who gave up the life of crime. For the growing number of disenfranchised, the opportunity was pretty good. But when it came to the most successful outlaws in the history of the West, Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, amnesty just might be impossible.

It was for these reasons that Heyes and Curry leaned on Sheriff Lom Trevors, longtime friend and former outlaw himself who actually made the transition to law enforcement. In a rare compromise, the boys made an agreement through Lom with the governor of Wyoming to stay out of trouble for a year in exchange for amnesty. In the meantime, they'd still be wanted.

Staying out of trouble wasn't easy. And there were no guarantees. Wanted posters papered government buildings in towns throughout the country and fairly screamed in big bold letters, "Wanted: Hannibal Heyes, Kid Curry, Dead or Alive!" Citizens, politicians and outlaws alike yearned to collect the $10,000 bounties on each of their heads. A growing number of people were now able to recognize them, so Heyes figured it wasn't a good idea to stay anywhere for an extended period of time.

"What is it with you, Heyes?" Curry complained. "Have you forgotten how to live life, enjoy your freedom? We haven't stayed in the same place for five minutes. Leaving town would be fine…after noon!" The horse bit clinked as Curry glanced back over his shoulder. "Besides, things were great back there! The poker games were great! I was ahead! You were ahead. Nothing wrong with that is there?" He stared at the back of a dark blue shirt and faded tan britches under the black hat moving just beyond Homer's nose.

When his partner didn't answer, Curry started up again. "What happens if we finally get amnesty? What are we going to do then? He snorted. "That's the question! Because whenever things are going good, you get jumpy." Kid paused, dropped his voice a notch and pointed a thumb as his chest, "Me? I just want to live out a normal life, but, you?" He frowned again as his horse plodded along. "You worry too much. You gotta do something about your worrying or we'll still be runnin' when you're 40, or maybe even 50!"

"Kid?"

"What!"

"Shut up."

"Old men don't ride as fast as young ones. They don't think as fast, either."

"You know what Kid?"

"What!"

Heyes circled his bay mare Rambler, in front of Curry. A suspicious crease dimpled his cheek and his eyes sparkled. "Are you thinking about women, Kid? We'll get you a woman and this little problem of yours will be fixed."Kid rolled his eyes and grunted. "Aw, man...this ain't about women! And I ain't ever needed you to help me get a woman!"

"No?"

"No!"

A lopsided grin spread over Heyes' face and he squeezed his legs and clucked at his mare to walk. He loved chumping Curry and watching his reaction. Heyes had a knack for handling people verbally, from besting thieving gamblers to pulling a scam at the Big Store, a crooked gambling establishment. He deserved his reputation as a 'silver tongue'. But for all that cunning, it was really a silver mind. And it saved their outlaw butts no less than Kid's unsurpassed quick draw.

Equally adept in a different way, Curry's remarkable ability with a pistol made him a living legend. It also provided a mark for identification, something the two of them could not afford; not with the 20,000 dollar price on their heads. Word traveled fast when you were as notorious as they were, and their wanted posters hung in jails across the country keeping their descriptions fresh in the minds of folks. Because Kid's gun handling was that quick, that smooth, Heyes often discouraged him from using it, if possible.

Serving Heyes' talent now, the present circumstances were a little more generous. At times like this, he loved taking the opportunity to 'out-gun' The Kid. Since his quick draw was only verbal, Hannibal Heyes never even had to jerk steel.

Kid continued ranting, "I think it's you with women on your mind, Heyes!"

"Naw." Hannibal Heyes' dimples grew.

"You brought it up!"

The dark haired outlaw leaned back in the saddle and pulled up on his reins, bringing Rambler around sideways to block the road. He leaned forward, crossed his arms and rested gloved hands on the saddle horn. "What evidence about a man shows he's thinkin' about a woman, Kid?" Heyes asked, squinting into the sun. "Is it the man that wants to settle somewhere or the man who moves around a lot?" He pointed a finger to the sky. "Aha! Just like you were thinkin'! It's the setllin' man, because the movin' man can't take anybody with him; so, by your own admission, wanting to stay in town, you're practically beggin' to put down roots!" With that, Heyes ceremoniously dropped his head and tugged at one dark leather glove showcasing the theatrics of victory, then leaned forward in the saddle, signaling Rambler to move out again.

Curry fumed, clucking at his horse to catch up. "What are you talkin' about? Roots. What roots? I ain't seen roots in 20 years. We don't gotta stay anywhere permanent. We just need to rest a while. Doggone it, Heyes, I'm tired of running! I want regular meals. Play some all-night poker. Sleep in a real bed." He was shouting now. "I want good grub and a place where I can get a hot bath and take my boots off for more than 10 minutes without having to worry about putting 'em back on! Blast it anyhow! I've wanted all this for a long time, but now I'm demanding it!" He paused to gaze at the shadows cast by a large tree, lowered his voice and whimpered, "I need rest!"

Heyes gave him an mm hmm. "Tub, grub and a hub, I hear ya. I'm actually glad you brought this up," He chirped.

"What are you talking about?" Curry shook his head.

"This subject, it's important." Heyes called back over his shoulder, his upper body rocking gently in the saddle as he leaned back for the descent down the hillside trail that led to the grassy valley below.

"It is?"

"Yep, the day we get amnesty, we're going to find a big, fancy hotel. Rent a house, maybe. We'll squat like settlers; get good, honest jobs...How about Arizona?"

Kid made a face, "Fine, why didn't you say this before you woke me up this morning? You know what?" He looked back for the hundredth time as they headed west. "I get this feelin' we should turn around. There's probably more trouble up ahead than back there. That hotel bed was actually comfortable! Look! No women out there." Kid motioned with a sweep of his hand.

"Aha!" Heyes chuckled. "See? I knew it! This whole conversation was about women."

Kid's blue eyes narrowed. He sighed, shaking his head. "I was making a point, ok? So even if this whole thing really was about women, we aren't going to run across any out there."

"Like I said, Kid, the minute we hear from Lom, as soon as we get our amnesty, we'll get a couple of real jobs and settle down permanently in Arizona…or maybe even California."

"No moving around, no more running?"

"You have my word."

"No leaving, for say, a month?"

"At least," Heyes picked up the trot.

Kid Curry watched his friend move on ahead. The whole exchange had been way too easy. Even when he won an argument with Heyes, he lost. He fell into a silent muse, traveling at a slow, easy trot, barely missing Rambler's dust blowing off to the east. As the sun climbed to the highest point in the sky, sweat began to bead around the dark blond curls at the brim of his hat. Finally Curry blurted, "You're only saying all that because you don't think we're ever gonna get amnesty!"

Heyes' lip curled and his dimpled cheek creased in a smile. The two men rode quietly through hills that ran along the valley for a while longer before ascending another hill to avoid the main road. Golden meadows of grass danced in the breeze blowing across the Wyoming prairie below. The Overland Trail ran parallel to their path and cut straight through the center of the plain like the blade of a knife. Snaking through narrower trails, frightening small critters, they meandered back and forth along an ever changing trail before debating again about their exact destination.

Curry finally asked, "Rock Springs or Green River?"

Before Heyes could answer, a gunshot rang out from the valley below. Sharing a brief glance, the men jerked their horses off the trail and broke into a run. They cut down the face of the hill their horses hopping rocks and trampling brush in order to reach a lower trail. Homer in the lead, Rambler was quick on his heels. Curry slowed long enough to glance back while Heyes stayed on his tail watching the prairie below.

Another shot sounded. Horses dancing in anticipation, the cousins glanced about for a good place to hide.

"The boulders!" Heyes pointed further down on the hill. Without hesitation, Curry and Heyes cut down the steep hill sliding through low brush, their horses bumping into each other in the rush to reach cover. They stopped and dismounted where the hillside jutted out before the last thirty feet dropped off in a cliff. Heyes squatted and pulled a spy glass out of his coat pocket—a personal treasure from one of their train robberies. Unlike the money they stole that day, this special glass had been a gift from a beautiful lady. The woman flashed in his mind, late 30's, wealthy, with lovely flowing hair. He raised his chin upward in a secret thanks, then looked across the valley to view the wagon. That woman had saved their lives by encouraging the train conductor to move out to avoid a shotgun toting sheriff…and by the gift of the glass many times since then.

Heyes watched a wagon hitched to a pair of horses stop about two hundred yards from the base of the hill. He searched the surrounding area for other signs of life, and then settled back on the wagon. Crouching low, he pointed to a group of bushes at the foot of the hill and Curry nodded.

The riders they'd seen earlier suddenly sprang from the bush and ran toward the wagon. More gun shots ricocheted. Curry stopped to check his gun when Heyes saw a young woman getting dragged into the back of the wagon. He leapt up and crashed into his cousin. Kid blocked him with his body, grabbing him by shoulders. "What do you think you're doing? We can't get involved in this!"

"Those people are being robbed, Kid! Bushwhacked!"

"So?"

"So, we can't just stand by and watch that happen!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Curry whispered at the top of his lungs. May I remind you...we use to do the same thing?"

"No we didn't! We robbed trains and banks, not people!"

A knowing smile creased corners of the Kid's mouth and he shook his head. "Remind me never to argue with you, Heyes."

Hopping nimbly over a boulder, they took a steep trail down the hill and zigzagged toward the wagon. Guns drawn as they approached, they slowly drew open the white canopy. As his partner looked in, Curry glanced back in case anyone approached. Burly and sweating, Heyes saw two men each sat straddling a woman. Curry looked in and sneered. Gagged and fussing women further proved the visitors did not come by invitation. Heyes and Curry clicked their hammers back, snapping the heads of the men around. Heyes met the eyes of each man as he touched the brim of his hat. His level tone matched his deceptive grin,

"Gentlemen..."

"Don't shoot!" The molesters waved their hands about, shuffling across the contents of the wagon on their knees toward the exit. "We're just havin' some fun, boys. No harm done." Upon release, the two young women hugged each other and checked themselves for damage. Heyes' lip curled. Kid's eyes narrowed as he barked at the intruders who continued to ramble on about how no one was going to get hurt.

"Stop sniveling, you filthy pigs! Or I'll leave your carcasses for the vultures!" Curry pointed at the ground a couple feet away. "Face down, arms out! Gimme any reason to blow your heads off!"

Heyes' eyes glittered dangerously until the men were secured and then his smile finally emerged. He came around and slapped Kid on the back. "Let me take care of these two. You help the women."

Heyes motioned for the villains to exit the wagon. Gun at their backs, he led the men to their horses and helped them mount, bound and gagged. He showed the two men off the main road to an area north a couple of miles and tied them together ignoring muffled complaints coming from behind their gags. It was nearly an hour before he returned and tied his horse to the wagon. Heyes stepped up and parted the curtain again. His face pinched and his eyes rolled when he found the women holding their guns on Curry.

"Hand over your weapon, slowly Mister, or we'll be forced to shoot," The brown-haired woman addressed Heyes, her voice quivering.

A quick check confirmed that the chambers of the blond's fancy pistol were loaded. A woman with a loaded gun gave any man pause and Heyes in particular. Curry always said an armed woman was more dangerous than a gunslinger with a grudge. Kid grinned up at Heyes, "She ain't kiddin', Josh. I tried to reason with her, with both of them, but they're afraid."

Heyes slid back his silver trimmed black hat to scratch his head. He looked hard at the brunette who did the talking, checking for weakness, searching for opportunity. He responded sarcastically, "Correct me, ma'am, but didn't we just save your life?" Just as he finished talking, the blonde's weapon pointed at Curry went off, blowing a hole in the canopy inches above Kid's head.

"Sara!" The brunette screamed.

The blond woman dropped her gun and began to apologize. "I'm sorry…I didn't..." The men leaped forward and each one grabbed a woman. Curry retrieved the weapons, stuffing the offending gun into the front of his pants then tossed the other one to his partner. Flustered and apologetic, the one named Sara cried, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to go off like that!"

Heyes opened the slit in the canopy, waving his gun toward the exit he sent the women out of the wagon into the Wyoming sunshine. Curry did nothing to try to hide his rage and as they stepped outside. He moved closer to blond girl's face for emphasis. "Rule number one: if you say you're going to shoot, you better be able to deliver! What the hell was that? Not that I'm not grateful that you're a lousy shot!" He shook his head, poked a finger in one ear and swirled it around. "You owe me an eardrum, lady!"

Soft, blond curls framed the blond girl's beautiful face that now flushed pink, "Please, Mister, I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't think…I don't know how…" She shook her head. "Don't hurt us. Please! My-my name is Sara." She teared up, looked at the ground and continued, "You were so close to the wagon, we figured it was a trick; that you might be outlaws too."

The horses snorted making Curry glance around. Heyes stood where he could see both sides of the wagon so when he didn't respond with concern, Kid softened his voice and addressed the blond woman. "Ok, ok… Sara, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Jones." His voice tightened. "Thaddeus Jones." He nodded at Heyes, "This is my partner, Joshua Smith."

Heyes acknowledged the women and accepted the guns from Curry, turning one of the weapons over in his hands, giving special attention to the gun that missed Kid Curry's head. Beautifully engraved with a scroll pattern in the wooden handle, he removed the bullets then twirled it on the first finger of his hand and pretended to dunk it in his holster. Kid Curry watched his partner with a smirk on his face and raised his brow,. He gave his partner a wink and said, "You'll have to teach me that sometime."

Curry and Heyes stepped away and spoke briefly about tying the women and riding off, but leaving them that way without protection didn't seem right. Since the girls were unable to doing anything to them without weapons, Heyes decided that the most important thing was to move everything off the main highway and then decide how to handle the situation. They found a hidden spot behind an outcropping of rocks and set up a picket line, tying the four horses. A moving creek flanked them on the one side, the open prairie and main road barely visible beyond heavy bushes on the other. Heyes sauntered back into the campsite and dusted his hands off after dropping an armload of long grass down for the horses.

The brunette stood by her horse feeding him hanks of dry grass that remained just beyond her gelding's reach. She dropped her eyes as Heyes approached, picked at her fingers and asked in a voice barely over a whisper. "Mr. Smith, my sister and I want to thank you and Mr. Jones for your kindness, considering..."

When he didn't answer, she looked up into his face. He gave her a lopsided smile and looked away. "Yes ma'am."

The young woman continued." We uh, were wondering if it would be possible for you and Mr. Jones to help us get back to the main road." She cleared her throat before she continued. "We can't travel alone without weapons and since it's maybe only a day's ride with the wagon to get to the next town, perhaps you'd be willing to help us get going? We won't be any more trouble. You can return our guns when we move on."

Heyes swallowed. Her statement was loaded. She meant; if you men are decent, we want you to help us. What if he and Curry weren't good guys? And what about the girls? Why was she so friendly about this? The thought of that bullet hitting his friend made him swallow. How many more guns did the girls have under those skirts?

Curry had since sauntered up and broke into Heyes' muse, "I would sure rather eat than ride right now."

Hannibal Heyes' head swiveled around with a snap. "What?"

Kid tossed his head toward the women. "They need a couple hands. We can build a fire. It's hot and I'm hungry." He shrugged. "It makes sense."

"If we take time to do all it takes to set up camp and cook a meal we'll be travelling through the night!"

"Why not leave in the morning?" Curry offered.

Heyes scowled at his friend. Thinking it through for a second, he shook his head once. When he looked around and everyone stood there quietly gazing at him, he realized he was alone in his opinion. Shifting his weight, Heyes scratched his nose waiting for some kind of reaction. With no protest from the women he dropped his shoulders and exhaled, "Fine…we'll leave at first light."

"Of course," Sara interrupted. "We will have to get our weapons back."

The men looked at each other and grinned. Curry raised his eyebrows, glanced at Sara and replied, "Not on my life!"

Kid Curry grabbed a dead tree branch and broke off some kindling. The brunette picked up a rock and set in next to another. She and the blond named Sara spoke in hushed tones as they fixed a ring for a campfire. Heyes stood at the wagon watching, arms folded. The darker haired gal walked over when she finished, leaned against the wagon, and wiped her hands on her apron.

Heyes asked her, "What made you two think you could safely travel without an escort, without any protection?" He removed his hat and looked her direction. Something awful was bound to happen to a couple of unprotected women. Even worse, when gals looked this good, they didn't stand a chance alone in the rugged Wyoming outback. He moved in a step and his gaze intensified. "Wasn't this a little desperate, Miss…? Um…?"

"Melanie", she pushed herself away from the wagon to face him and gazed off in the distance.

The golden sun lit her face and she looked like an angel. Her beauty stunned Heyes. This girl had no idea how vulnerable she was, or to what kind of men she was talking. She just happened to be lucky he wasn't the type to take advantage of a woman, not that it hadn't entered his mind. Heyes leaned a shoulder against the wagon and examined the silver band on his hat. "I don't mean to pry, of course."

Melanie looked surprised for a moment and answered. "It is desperate, I suppose."

Something about the young woman showed unusually refined poise and nothing about them appeared to be a threat. Heyes estimated the brunette was maybe twenty years old. When she looked up for his reaction, her blue eyes intense, he caught his breath. Hannibal Heyes had known a lot of women, but without question, this beauty was the finest vision of a female he'd ever laid eyes on. When he didn't respond, she leaned against the wagon again and looked through the gap in the bushes that viewed the open prairie. He continued to stare at her. The exquisitely beautiful girl just stole his next thought.

"Why did you come to our rescue?" Melanie frowned. Heyes smiled back, feeling a little guilty for his last thought. "Uh, well," He swiped his nose with a thumb. "We heard gunshots and decided to investigate. I saw a man dragging one of you into the wagon. When the shooting stopped, we moved in and opened the curtain and saw what was going on."

"Please forgive me, Joshua. I'm glad you did what you did, but I must consider Sara's and my concerns. We really need our guns to continue on. I'm truly sorry for this trouble, but going back to our ranch is impossible and even more dangerous than trying to get away. We have to move on. Those men are responsible for a lot of crimes. Sara is my sister. They are stealing our ranch from us. After our father died, they joined up with our uncle and completely took over." She motioned to the wagon. "What happened back there was going to happen back at home." She glanced back down at her feet.

Heyes wasn't about to turn loose of any weapons and stalled, "So you know those men?"

"They are part-time help hired for a job on our ranch." Melanie frowned and wiped a tear away. "We knew they had been following us for several hours. I can't imagine what would have happened if…"

Heyes sighed. A soft breeze swirled the dirt at his feet. He removed a leather glove and reached over to lift the gal's beautiful chin so he could look at those eyes again. The air was cool as the sun dropped lower, but it suddenly felt hotter than summer. He told her, "You and your sister are safe now."

Heyes struggled to figure out how to deal with the girl. Her looks alone could stop a train. He looked up when heard Thaddeus and Sara laughing and wondered if his friend had already fallen under the blond girl's spell. Melanie suppressed a smile as her sister's giggling increased. Curry suddenly laughed out loud and Melanie's infectious giggle captured Heyes off guard. Soft and melodic, it sounded like music.

"You can't just leave your home, your ranch." Heyes turned back to sneak another look. The girl glanced at him sideways and answered, "The sheriff in Salt Wells is one those men's brothers. We had no choice."

Heyes shifted his weight. Such a young, beautiful woman and she already suffered more than any woman twice her age could imagine. Her ranch and home under siege, manhandled, nearly raped, she was completely unaware she remained in the hands of one of the most notorious outlaws in the West. Her situation wasn't exactly improving. Heyes straightened up, drew a deep breath and ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

Melanie sighed, "I should get Sara." She combed away the tendrils dancing around her face and started in the direction of her sister. Heyes glanced at her again, touched his hat and turned to leave the opposite direction, "Ma'am."

The girls spent the early part of the afternoon taking care of the horses and preparing food for an early supper. Soon, a fire crackled and an aromatic pot of coffee steamed at Curry's feet. Sara joined him finally and the two sat next to each other talking about the day's events.

Heyes stood gazing at the group with his elbow on the butt of a horse. He thought at first that the blond and Melanie might be twins, but a rounder face and pinker skin set her apart from her darker, olive skinned sibling. Heyes had never seen anything like the beauty of these girls. The warm exchange between the Kid and Sara grew in intensity and he wondered if she fully realized what she was doing to his friend. Kid hadn't quit smiling since Sara introduced herself, even after she nearly blew his head off with a gun!

"You risked yourselves for my sister and me. And I…" Sara smiled at Curry and tucked a blond curl behind her ear, "The trigger on that gun was more sensitive than I'm used to." Curry smiled back, leaning in with incredulity, "You're 'used' to guns? Heaven help us!" Sara held a hand up in defense, "It was the gun."

Heyes and Melanie joined the couple to eat the beef jerky and corn mush that Melanie had prepared. The fire crackled as the men told the girls stories of their travels easing the uncomfortable introduction they endured. Heyes discovered Melanie really easy to talk to and found himself saying all sorts of things he normally kept to himself. He even revealed a telling story about playing a wild game of poker with a rancher in southern Wyoming. "When Big Mac cut the deck, he did it with a knife, right through the center of the deck. But the card he was supposed to cut was up my sleeve. So he lost the bet."

Melanie giggled, "You cheated!"

He gave her a wicked smile and a wink. "So did Big Mac. This was more than any ordinary card game. It was a game of wits." He tapped his head.

"And you won $20,000?"

"Yep, Thaddeus did too…and both of us lost every penny the same night on that hand." Regret showed on his face. "A man that Big Mac owed money to showed up with gunmen and they cleaned out the table."

Melanie shook her head smiling. "You can't be telling the truth!"

Heyes chuckled in self-deprecating frustration, "Believe me, telling it hurts as bad as the night it happened." He looked up to see if Curry could add anything, but as the conversation wore on, he and Sara were now engrossed in their own conversation.

Curry and Heyes chatted with the girls into the late hours laughing around the campfire, none of them wanting the time to end. Just after midnight, Heyes finally walked Melanie to the wagon. Darkness had come hours before, but the campsite now basked in the glow of a moon near full which made getting around at midnight pretty easy. Heyes held Melanie's hand as she climbed into the back of the wagon. She stopped and turned back, blue eyes glittering in the glow of the moon. "Thank you Joshua...for everything."

A dimple creased one side of Heyes' face and his eyes fell on her lips. He felt guilty again and refrained from the considerations running through his mind. "Good night, Melanie." He cleared his throat, nodded at her, then walked back to the fire.

Heyes took a walk to stretch his limbs. He tossed some stones into the creek wondering about this new situation. These women were really something special, and not the type men like Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry had ever met. After their long conversation, all the flirting, he felt almost giddy inside and it made him nervous. At least today he could still think clearly. Tomorrow he could not be sure. He left the water's edge and walked toward Kid and Sara, stopping a distance away and waited for a lull in the conversation. He called his partner over. The two men withdrew a safe distance and Heyes put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "She deserves for you not to break her heart, Kid."

"What?" Curry frowned. He stuck his chin out before he started rambling, "Hold it, Heyes..." Both hands pointing to his chest, he asked, "You think I'm going to break her heart? No wait…" He dismissed that and said, "Sara and I were only talking, having an ordinary conversation, and look, you're already drawing conclusions. It just so happens she's an incredibly beautiful woman and I like her." His tone changed from guilty to guiltier. "Besides, you're doing the same thing!"

Heyes winced. "I know, Kid". That's why I'm talking to you about this now. "These girls are different." He pointed to himself then at Curry, "They don't deserve to be wooed by outlaws. They have no idea what they're in for. We come with additional trouble those girls do not need." He shifted his weight and shoved his hat back. "We are no better for them than what they are running from."

"What a bunch of hogwash!" Kid sputtered. "We're sure a lot better for them than the last two! So what do you suggest? We made a deal to help them start to the next town…now what?"

Heyes didn't answer, so Kid continued. "Ok, do we just leave them here? Or maybe we should just quit talking to them? Ignore them? Because that is what it'll take!" He paused again hoping Heyes would counter, but his friend only stared back. "Just great, Heyes!" Kid spread his arms helplessly, palms up.

"The way things are going, talking with that girl is not going to be the problem and you know it! Getting friendly with her will put you in over your head. You need to avoid Sara entirely. Don't get too close, whatever it takes." Heyes warned.

"Maybe they'd be safer without us?"

"Kid?"

"What?"

"May I remind you that you that you asked me to remind you that you should never argue with me?"

Kid turned and walked off, calling back over his shoulder, "It's too late."

Chapter 2  
Thursday

A gentle patter of rain woke Melanie just before first light. She wondered if the men found a dry place to sleep. The wagon canopy wasn't waterproof, but the tightly woven canvas material shed water quite well. It would take a longer, heavier rain to soak in or leak, which was a rarity in these parts. The older sister glanced at her sibling deep in slumber and decided to go check on the condition of the men. Donning a pair of breeches and a second shirt, she pulled on a woolen overcoat and a pair of boots and eased herself out of the wagon. Had it been a clear day, a dawning sun would have already made its debut. Instead, the dreariness of the clouds extended over the landscape, capturing the sunlight behind a dense curtain of gray. She looked in the direction she thought the men might be sleeping. Two boulders shaded in low light prevented her from seeing where they might have spent the night, but after crossing over a particularly large rock then resting upon another, she saw they'd found a place under a natural stone ledge that formed a shallow cave.

A gun clicked and Melanie froze when the cold steal touched her temple. A man's head rose up from behind a rock. She looked up out of the corner of her eyes to find Heyes releasing the hammer. He smiled and apologized. "I didn't know it was you at first."

"I wanted to see if you two were still here, and had a place to sleep." She confessed, looking sheepish.

Heyes studied her for a moment, making her even more uncomfortable, so she shrugged innocently and turned to leave. That he never answered and that she'd been caught peeping left her deeply embarrassed. His pointing a gun at her head made her wonder. Was he telling the truth that he didn't know it was her? Or was there something he was hiding? She crawled back into the wagon and sat staring at the canvas until the smell of coffee brewing brought her back outside.

Heyes stoked the fire to blazing then stood back to pour hot black coffee into a tin cup. He and Kid didn't say much and kept to themselves. Everyone cleaned up in silence after their breakfast of dry meat and biscuits.

When the wagon was packed, Curry helped Melanie hitch their two horses.

Once the horses were harnessed, Melanie went to put the saddle on Curry's horse. "What are you doing?" Heyes stopped mid-stride as he passed by.

"Saddling to ride," Melanie answered as she focused on capturing the cinch under Homer's girth and fed it through the ring. Heyes wasn't going to argue about this. He wondered if the girl and Curry had come to some sort of agreement about who would ride in the wagon with Sara. He moved closer, responding with a firm. "No." He reached for the strap and grasped it with the girl's hand. She glanced at him as electricity jumped between them and she drew a breath. His touch generated a magnificent rush impossible to ignore. She looked past him when their surroundings suddenly darkened. Thickening clouds held out against one last hopeful ray of escaping sunlight, a sure sign that a storm brewed.

"Let her ride, Smith." Curry said walking up at the end of the dispute. "I can drive the wagon."

Heyes compressed his lips and shook his head once, but didn't answer. For the next two hours the group rode slowly through spits of Wyoming spring rain as they traveled across the open prairie. Melanie gave no cause for Heyes to speak to her staying close to the wagon.

Sara signaled to her sister to ride next to her, so the dark haired girl dropped behind the back of the wagon just long enough to ride up the other side. She could feel Joshua's eyes as she made the transition, but ignored him. She didn't need his permission to talk to Mr. Jones or her sister. Sara made some motion to her sister to eat, but Melanie frowned and shook her head. Pride tasted better than food right now. Sara and Thaddeus didn't seem to be saying much to each other and that wasn't helping her to change her mind about skipping lunch. The first moment she got with her sister would help answer a lot of questions crowding her mind.

Dark and heavy the sky finally let loose. The cold rain soaked the travelers forcing them to put down early. A healthy growth of trees and shrubs near the creek offered some shelter and camouflage, so everyone agreed to stop and set up until the rain passed. Curry started to build a fire and Heyes tied the horses again.

When the fire was big enough to continue burning alone, everyone was cold and soaked and huddled around the flames without speaking. The rain eased and turned to mist. No one had anything to say about possibly spending another night on the prairie, nor did they complain about the chilly, wet conditions. Curry went out to capture dinner while Heyes tended the horses. The girls provided beans and a cooking pot they had stored inside the wagon. Twenty minutes later, Thaddeus dropped a rabbit against the campfire rocks. Melanie looked up and smiled at him, "Wow. I'm impressed."

By the time the beans started to boil, the rain had completely subsided. When the clouds parted, the cold set in. Heyes stood in the shadows listening as Melanie spoke with Thaddeus. Their conversation was light and friendly. "I make a mean rabbit stew", Curry offered, "So if the two of you don't feel like it, I'll be happy to do the cooking."

Melanie looked surprised and gave him a big smile. "What girl wouldn't take that offer?" She asked sweetly, "Can I get you an apron?"

Kid didn't answer, but smiled back and shook his head in mock disgust. He took the pot to fill it with water at the creek. Both of them wondered if Heyes heard them talking and if they'd be in trouble for that friendly exchange. More rain fell delaying departure and the girls spent the afternoon in the wagon. Sara finally left to prepare the meal.

Melanie longed to pull Sara aside and find out what she was thinking, but they decided to finish preparations for the night and the girls could only exchange glances. She considered walking up and asking Joshua about their plans, just to make contact, but changed her mind. Like every other time, her pride tasted better. Besides, she feared he'd read her like a book and might see how vulnerable she felt. Further rejection would be unbearable. The men remained quiet and aloof, patrolling the area for signs of life or any movement along the main road. When they finally wandered off together to talk, Melanie grabbed Sara and the two girls held a conference behind the wagon.

"What happened? We meet these men. They save our lives. We almost shoot one to death and they are so wonderful it feels like we've been friends forever! They spend one evening being perfectly charming, flirting and laughing, then the moment it can't get any better they suddenly act like we are poison!"

"I know…" Sara looked pensive. "Thaddeus was so wonderful last night. What a gentleman! Talk about blue eyes… and he has the most mysterious and appealing smile." She blathered. "And tender? Psh! Mel, when he looks at me, I know there is something special between us. I have a feeling he and Joshua are in some kind of trouble, though. I told him that. You should have seen his face! He was so surprised I said it. He didn't admit it, but he didn't deny it, either. He later told me I was a smart girl."

Melanie smiled at her sister. "Yea, I know…I'm definitely attracted to Joshua." She peeked out from behind the wagon to observe the men who continued to talk just beyond the string of horses. "I don't know why the big change." She tapped her lips with a thoughtful finger, "Telling Joshua about Ray and the ranch might be the problem. I'll bet he knows exactly who Ray is and doesn't want to deal with him. Maybe that's the trouble. I really can't blame him. My guess is that he doesn't want to get further involved with all of this and he warned Thaddeus not to get too friendly with you for the same reason. Nothing else I can think of makes sense."

The men soon moved back to the fire and Hannibal Heyes poked the glowing red coals with a tree branch, talking to Curry in hushed tones the girls couldn't hear.

"I know you don't like doing it this way Kid, but it's not right to encourage relationships that force us to reveal who we are or demand more than we can offer. Anonymity has served us well." Heyes' idea was meant to sound reasonable, but Curry stiffened at his words.

"Are you kidding me?" Curry spat. "So, this isn't about endangering the women, it's about your damned ego! Are you telling me that even after we get our amnesty, you're going to walk away from Melanie? I can't say that I'm not flattered. We've been together a long time." He didn't get a response and added, "That girl is special, Heyes. If you leave her, I was right all along! You want to be miserable!"

Hannibal Heyes sat warming his hands then picked up a stone and jetted it out onto the prairie. "My ego's shot to hell over this, Kid!" "It IS about her safety. Think of Sara's safety! The reason you don't think about it because we are used to our situation. But that doesn't mean our lives aren't shot, dangerous even! And what about their trouble? We don't need that! The world we live in is way too messed up to add our problems to theirs. By ourselves, we manage—but only so far. Amnesty may change things. But it may not!" He crouched and stared hard at his partner sitting on the rocks, who was angrily cleaning mud off of his boots. Heyes continued, "Some people don't think we deserve amnesty and we've seen they are willing to prove that. Doggonit Kid, I'm man enough to admit I'm not good enough for a woman like Melanie. In fact, I've always hoped not to find anyone like her. I have wanted posters in every bank and jailhouse from here to New Orleans! I can't …" he paused working his jaw, "put an innocent girl through the hell that's due to come back on me for living a life of crime!"

Curry spat on the ground and glanced over at Heyes. "That's a bunch of horse crap!" He pulled his boot back on and stood up. "You can't run from your past for the rest of your life! It never bothered you like this before. Haven't I always covered your back? Look, Heyes, you can choose not to go to hell." Kid paused, shifted his weight and sighed. "Ah, crap!" He slapped his hat against his leg and looked up, clearly annoyed. "Now that's a first. I'm actually telling you NOT to go to hell!"

Heyes stood up and smiled at his friend. "I appreciate what you're saying, Kid."

"You know, Heyes…" Kid forced his voice back down. "I'm really disappointed." His chin jutted out as he chose his next words. "This is the first time I've ever seen you walk away from something this good." He picked up his hat and thrust it at Heyes like a dagger.

"Where's that old silver tongue now?" When his partner didn't respond, Curry slapped his hat on his head and walked away.

The wind picked up, attempting to dry the soggy campsite. The girls exited the wagon. Soon forks scraping tin plates made the only sounds in the camp. Melanie was proud of her sister. Sara carried on like a woman without a care in the world. She didn't pine, punish or even once try to catch Thaddeus' eye. Melanie knew how her sister felt. But for that glorious Tomlinson pride! Sara's unaffected manner tickled Melanie pink. Even so, the air practically cracked with tension. Clouds darkened the late afternoon sky forcing silent agreement between them that the group would not be leaving tonight.

The girls began cleaning up the meal when Sara dropped a plate of bones on the ground making the girls snort and giggle. Stooping to pick them up, Sara tossed a bone at Melanie hitting her in the head. The war began. Animal parts flew as the girls ducked and threw. Kid stood and watched, his arms crossed, grinning ear to ear.

Melanie plopped unladylike onto the ground and threw her head back laughing after smacking Sara in the forehead with a rabbit's foot. The innocence and beauty of the girls at play, along with the musical tone of Melanie's laughter captured Heyes. The fire cast the scene in an orange red glow. When Melanie glanced over at him standing between the fire and the wagon, she met a smoky, inscrutable gaze and his jaw flexed. The movement unmasked him and sent a shock of electricity coursing through her. She watched his face change the next instant. Before he looked away, he walked off into the darkness.

At Curry's cue, the group cleaned up and packed the wagon. Soon the brilliant nearly full moon ascended to in a crescendo illuminating the vast wilderness in a beautiful and eerie green. Melanie relished the view for a while and finally climbed in the wagon. Joshua shamelessly haunted her thoughts. He'd proved to be not only handsome, but a very complex man and she found herself searching the corners of her mind to give back every detail. Sara had wandered off, so Melanie waited inside the wagon lost in thought hoping Sara and Thaddeus might be talking. The moon continued its trek across the starry sky and the sound of little creatures chanted their night song.

"Melanie! Wake up!" Sara hovered over her sister and shook her harder a second time,

"Melanie!"

"What?" Hair mussed, Melanie brushed some of it back, rubbed her eyes and sat up. "What's going on?"

"Shh! Listen to me. You have to listen!"

"Ok, I'm awake. Is everything ok?"

"Yes. I mean, no. Just hush!" Sara lowered her voice making it smaller than a whisper. "I had a short conversation with Thaddeus last night. You told Joshua we were going to our family in southern Wyoming, but Thaddeus wanted exact details; where it was, what to look for, and he wanted to know a little bit about the town, you know, who the sheriff was, etcetera."

"Ok…"

"Anyway, I told him we had cousins there who would take us in, that the town was quiet, and that we'd been there before…and that the family there felt the same about Ray as we did. I assured him we'd be happy and safe, that they could move on without concern for us." She drew a breath, "Thaddeus didn't say anything and it felt like he wanted to talk more. He didn't though. It was all kind of uncomfortable, but I didn't really care because I had a plan." She grinned.

"Spill it then, Sara! Hey, wait a minute. What time is it?"

"Just past midnight," The blond girl answered.

"Were you gone this whole time?" Melanie reached for her father's pocket watch.

"Yes, but I only talked to Thaddeus for maybe 5 minutes."

"Where were you?" Melanie frowned and threw off her covers.

"Relax Mel. Shut up and listen. You're not going to believe this! Thaddeus and I said a few more things I can't remember right now, but none of that is important. After saying good night, I came to the wagon. You were asleep so I snuck back out to take a walk. I slipped out when they walked over to check the horses so they didn't see me leave the wagon." She raised her hand to stop any protest. "Don't worry I didn't go anywhere. Joshua and Thaddeus went back to the fire to talk, so I listened for a while. It was nothing much, so I went around the other side of the wagon to try to get closer, but I couldn't. From where they sat they might very well see me, especially if I tried to get into the wagon. So I waited. I actually fell asleep on that rock that sits against the back wheel. When I heard them again, it sounded like a heated conversation. I snuck to the front of the wagon and crossed over to that row of bushes and walked along the other side until I stood behind that big tree beyond the fire where I could hear them perfectly. They watched the wagon in case either of us came out but when they didn't see anyone they figured they were alone. They didn't know I was right behind them!"

"Oh, my goodness, Sara! You crazy girl! Go on!"

"So get this…" Sara frowned and grabbed her sister's shoulders, "Heavens, Melanie, Thaddeus was practically yelling at Joshua, but he didn't call him Joshua…" Anticipating the reaction about to come, she tilted her head, and purred, "He called him…"Heyes."

"Heyes?"

Sara studied her sister waiting for a dawning while she held her fingers to Melanie's mouth.

"Listen to me, Mel!" Having saved the all-important clincher, she raised her whisper an octave higher to spit it out, "Joshua also called Thaddeus, "Kid"!

Melanie searched her sister's face before they said together, "Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry!"

"Crap!" Melanie's eyes widened and she massaged her temple with fingertips. "You were right! They are in trouble Sara! Wait! What am I saying? We're in trouble! That makes them bank robbers!" She emphasized that again, "Bank robbers, train robbers, thieves! Oh my goodness! They're probably using us for cover! Or ransom or…" Sara stopped her sister and reminded her, "Mel, those men saved our lives! And in all the trains and banks they robbed, they never shot anyone!"

"Great! Just great! I'm sorry, Sara, that doesn't help. I've got to digest this."

"I'm not done!" Sara pressed a finger to Melanie's lips. "Do you want to hear what the argument was about?" Melanie rolled her eyes heavenward, grabbed her sister's shoulders and hissed, "Sara, I don't know what to do with any of this! But yes, finish!"

"Joshua told Thaddeus that he wasn't being fair to me—that lying about who he was would only make me hate him. Joshua forbade Thaddeus to tell me because Joshua didn't want you to know he was a train robber." Sara took a breath and continued, "Thaddeus kept bringing up 'amnesty'. Joshua told Thaddeus that even if they ever got amnesty, all he'd ever amount to was an outlaw with a promise that meant nothing to a lot of people. Thaddeus looked like he was going to punch him! He was so mad! Thaddeus said he was forced to take into account Joshua's desire for anonymity, and that they needed to resolve that issue even if it meant separating as partners. Then they talked about going straight and amnesty again. Apparently, they've been living honest lives for a while.

"Amnesty? I've seen those wanted posters. I've heard the stories. Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes aren't getting amnesty!" Melanie spat.

"Well, it's supposed to happen! They've made a deal with the governor! They were going to wire a friend about it when we get into town." Sara paused and looked straight at her sister.

"Joshua, I mean, Hannibal Heyes… is in love with you."

Melanie bristled. "He said that?"

"Not in those words. But he told Thaddeus, uh Curry…" Sara cleared her throat, "That the thought of telling you he is Hannibal Heyes is killing him and that if it weren't for their history, he wouldn't think twice. He said he couldn't continue to lie but wants to wait until they get to town to find out about their amnesty before he decides what to do. He told Thaddeus, uh, I mean, Kid… that you were beautiful, that he wanted you and dreaded going separate ways, but he was afraid that knowing who he really was, you would hate him. He said you deserved better, anyway. He was also concerned that if we found out we might turn them in for the reward money. Thaddeus just wants to be able talk to me, but Joshua, I mean, Heyes, keeps getting in his way. Thaddeus, Kid, whatever, said that he didn't need permission to talk to me, or be with me. I almost choked! Of course, if he did tell me his identity, the decision would have to be mutual. Joshua reminded him that he still had to keep my safety in mind. They continued talking but they got kind of quiet after that. I'm not sure what they finally decided, but I went back to the wagon because they talked about checking the horses."

"And what does Mr. Curry think of your safety?" Melanie raised her head following a train of thought. She didn't want to purposely hurt her sister but hardening her heart against the men by refusing to trust them felt pretty nice. "They're criminals, Sara! What real interest could they have in us anyway; after only a couple of days? We're being naïve!" Melanie's bitter words hit home. Sara sat there zombie-like, staring at the canopy. She began to repeat slowly, "I'm in love with a criminal. I'm in love with…" Melanie snorted a giggle and they broke into stifled laughter. "Shh, now," Melanie waved her sister away. "My head aches." Melanie lay back on her cushion and turned away. You can fill me in with the rest of the details in the morning. I am going to go have a nightmare."

Chapter 3  
Friday

Nobody woke the girls that morning. Melanie checked her pocket watch minutes after waking. Solid gold and engraved with her father's initials, RWT, she treasured it immensely. It was almost 7:00 am when she woke Sara.

The girls heard the men out at the fire, up and joking around as they poked the flames, behaving more like the first night. Even Joshua sounded lighthearted. But after last night's revelation Melanie was far from feeling forgiving. If the men pulled anything, she was ready; even if they tried to take their wagon, horses, whatever. She wasn't going down without some kind of fight. What was there to gain in a situation like this? Curry and Heyes knew their lives were shot! That made their situation a lot more dangerous. She only wished she could be sure what he felt for her and how to deal with how she felt about him. When she got outside, she refused to look at Heyes busying herself with menial morning tasks. Whatever the men had decided to do about their identity crisis, it sounded like they appeared settled about it.

An early summer breeze stirred the leaves and the bright sun warmed the morning air. Millions of glittering dewdrops hung about on the surrounding bushes. Everyone moved slowly, waiting for someone else to announce their agenda for leaving. By late morning, all four campers had taken turns washing in a stream whose banks the group hugged along their journey. Melanie sat brushing her long mahogany brown hair, fragrant and shiny from washing. Her boots damp, she decided to let them dry as long as possible and for now, climbed out of the wagon barefoot. She had slipped on riding breeches and white silk chemise that hugged her shapely figure. Lace at the bodice, it was a gift from her cousin Anna, a saloon girl. Rumored to have been a gift from a client in New York, Melanie treasured the piece despite its checkered past. Finely made and supremely delicate, she often wondered about the stories it could tell. Already exotic for under her clothes or perhaps wear on a honeymoon, it was somewhat risque to wear in public, being it was so delicate and without sleeves. Melanie slipped it over her head anyway.

Sporting a frown, Melanie left the wagon and approached the fire. Kid watched as she set down her cup and sauntered away. She moved off to gaze beyond the area out over the prairie while she considered ways to confront Heyes. Running her fingers deep into the sides of her hair she sent them slowly through to the ends and raised her hands to the sky in a sultry stretch. A light wind tossed her hair about magnificently. It also flagged the silken fabric against her body further revealing clear evidence of a slim, firm torso and voluptuous bust. Hannibal Heyes was fixed on Melanie from the moment she exited to the wagon through this inexplicable but exhilarating show. Unable to couch his surprise, Kid Curry let his jaw go slack. Sara stood quietly near the wagon leaning against a rake, her mouth pressed against the back of her hands, eyebrows raised, suppressing a grin.

Gathering her courage, Melanie turned around and wandered back up to the log where Heyes reclined. She stood next to him, then crouched down on her haunches and set one knee on the ground. She tossed her head back redistributing a glorious mass of hair that slid down around her shoulders. Heyes' eyes followed the length of her hair to where the thin fabric of her chemise volunteered to paint some nice pictures for his imagination. Melanie watched his discomfort as heat colored his face. A dimple grew next to his lopsided smile. He looked like the way she felt for the last twenty-four hours and she gloried in the moment where she got to shuffle his deck for a while. Lingering to savor the moment, she smiled mysteriously. Cocking her head, she lowered her face closer to his and in a sultry voice whispered, "So, is it Hannibal, or just Heyes?"

The outlaw blinked slowly, absorbing her words then shot a helpless look at his partner who frowned at him with a shrug. Curry didn't hear a thing Melanie had said so Heyes clinched his jaw and stared at his knees. Every sterling silver thought in his mind vanished like rats in the daylight.

Suddenly, Heyes looked up and grinned. A second later, he shifted from his seat to his feet, grabbed Melanie by the shoulders, and captured her in a rapacious kiss. Melanie braced her hands against his chest, but the intensity she felt in him changed everything and any resistance she had quickly waned. She returned the kiss gripping one arm, the other wrapped around his neck. His arms tightened around her for a few moments before he pulled away, "Gotcha!" he taunted with a wicked grin, though his eyes still burned with the flames she'd kindled.

"Kid!" Heyes called to his friend without looking away, "You better go talk to your woman."

"What?" Melanie looked confused. As they stood up, she attempted to turn and leave, but Heyes held her fast. Clearing his throat, he gave her another lopsided grin, "C'mon, it was a great idea…you're not nearly as angry with me now." His eyes fell back onto her beautiful lips until the chemise called again.

"You lied." Melanie spat.

"No." Heyes responded. Standing there with that wisp of a shirt made it impossible to concentrate. "My name really is Joshua, now." He looked down at his boots. "I don't usually introduce myself as Hannibal Heyes because…" he blinked slowly, raising an eyebrow and shrugged, "it can be a problem." Melanie gently released herself and walked out to the edge of camp. The skies had cleared and everything glistened like jewels in the sunlight. Heyes' admission both alarmed and thrilled her. The enormity of the predicament didn't provide answers about how to deal with it, though. At the start of this morning's sexy little poker game she was holding all the cards, but somehow this accomplished professional managed to rake in the pot. Emotions tangled up by the kiss left her confused but the thieving outlaw seemed totally unaffected. That attractive mystique coupled with unusual self-control came with its thorns and must have been rooted in years of experience.

Heyes glanced up to scan the brow of a nearby hill, then over to see what happened to Curry. Fully involved in some deep exchange, Kid was leaning into Sara, propped against the wagon with one hand. Sara stood next to him, arms akimbo and looked up sideways to meet his eyes. Heyes watched them for a moment before turning away. He sauntered out to Melanie who had walked to the edge of the site and pulled up close enough behind her so that his chest brushed her back. He leaned closer to swallow the scent of her hair. She looked at him over one shoulder, "You were never going to tell me who you really were."

He shifted clearing his throat and grasped her shoulders. "I didn't think it was a good idea, no."

She said back over her shoulder, "When we got to town, you'd just leave." His grip tightened and he gently spun her around, widening his stance to become level with her eyes. The pain on her face surprised him. He looked at his boots again, shiny brown hair shifting as he shook his head, "Maybe..." He cleared his throat and half-whispered when he looked up and said, "There is just a lot to consider when you have a past like mine."

Melanie gazed out past him attempting to decipher his words. Hopelessly attracted to him, the enormous conflicts too much to endure for the moment, she surrendered her anger in exchange for the opportunity to play careless with his affections again. She shook her head half-smiling and spat with disgust, "You're nothing but a thief."

"Mmmph!" Heyes grabbed his chest and grunted like he'd been shot. If she were a gun, he'd be dead. Thumbing his nose in protest he stood his full height and gently corrected her. "Uh…that's former thief." His dimpled smile and cool demeanor could not conceal the depth of passion he felt about that.

Kid Curry was doing some catch up. Heyes' verbal slip calling him 'Kid' and his suggestion to 'go talk to your girl' set off alarms in Curry's mind. He checked over his shoulder before turning to Sara and indicated with a thumb over where Joshua and Melanie embraced.

"What was that all about?"

Sara picked at a hangnail and brushed back a wavy strand of hair. "Thaddeus is really nice name."

"Thank you." Kid answered slowly, backing out of a smile. Sara captured his eyes wanting to study his reaction and decided to unload both barrels, hitting him squarely this time. "'Kid'? Now that's a bit different." Curry caught his breath and looked away. A bird chirped and flew over them but Sara never flinched. Finally, Curry expelled the air in his lungs. "Uh, yea," He took a minute to allow the full impact of her words to set in. He knew then that Heyes heard it from Melanie and was probably doing damage control right about now. Would the girls turn them in? What could he say? Finally he admitted, "Well…actually, it's Jed… Jedidiah Curry."

Sara took a step back and held a hand out in mock greeting. "Nice to finally meet you proper, Mr. Curry. Yes, I heard it all last night. So, tell me: is concern for your identity the reason you suddenly decided to treat me so badly?" She looked away and didn't wait for an answer. "Maybe it was because of the gun incident, I don't know. So, was this your idea? Or did Heyes make you to do it?" She wasn't finished with him yet, "Do you always do what he wants?"

Kid shook his head and moved closer. "I never wanted to hurt you Sara."

Their eyes met and she held her palms up. "Ok…?"

"Look, a lot has happened in the last couple of days." Kid explained. "And no, I don't do everything he says, but his privacy was at stake too. I had to respect that."

"Of course you did. But did you really have to be so doggone rude? I shouldn't have let it bother me. I guess I just don't know how to feel about becoming non-existent." Sara waved her hand and looked away because the rising heat of tears stung the backs of her eyes. Kid lifted her chin but she avoided his gaze. He waited for her to look up again then whispered, "Sara..."

Kid leaned in and hovered, requesting forgiveness and access. Intoxicated by his proximity, but still angry, Sara held her place. He moved closer, kissing her softly. Enjoying the amazingly heady tease, she whispered his outlaw name against his lips. Game over; Kid gripped her arms and pressed his lips into hers in a demanding, sensual kiss. He raised his head a minute later stopping only when he heard Heyes call.

"Thaddeus!" Heyes walked up with Melanie and stopped several feet away.

Curry glanced over at the pair awaiting him and nodded to his friend, "Come on over," he said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I think we're being watched!" Heyes warned. He moved to Kid's side pulling Melanie with him and carefully pointed out into the hills. "That's the second time I saw something moving beyond that ridge. Pulling the gun from his holster, he turned away from the hill and started loading bullets in the chamber. "You girls better get to the wagon…"

Melanie pulled back, "The wagon? We need to saddle the horses so we can run!"

Heyes stared at her for a second. There was no time to argue. He lowered his voice to counter, "Do you have saddles for that?"

Melanie frowned. "No. It's ok though; Sara and I ride bareback, probably better than in a saddle. I have bridles for our horses. Saddle your horses. We'll be ready."

Bemused, Heyes shot a look at his partner.

Kid persisted, "Fine, but you girls will ride the saddled horses. It will be safer."

"No." Sara shook her head. "You don't understand…you both ride in a saddle normally, but riding bareback is like walking to us. Melanie, get our guns."

The word 'guns' made Heyes' mind itch—especially when it came to firearms unaccounted for. He stared at Sara as he nodded to his partner, "I'll meet you after I circle wide to see how many we're dealing with." He turned to Melanie, "You have other guns?" He'd already retrieved the ones they used on the molesters and perhaps Sara just forgot that he'd already taken them.

Melanie covered a grin with her hand, "Two pistols in a latched box to the right of the door under a pile of clothes. They're loaded." Heyes suppressed a choking sensation and swallowed hard. He'd confiscated the women's guns after Sara nearly blasted Kid Curry's head off, but failed to check for others. Heyes rolled his eyes and glanced heavenward. Melanie shrugged and smiled.

The group had already been seen, so there was no time to lose. Heyes threw some things in his saddle bag then casually sauntered over to the edge of the camp knowing their visitors watched beyond a rise sprinkled with trees about 400 yards out. Curry had already tacked the animals up behind the wagon so their pursuers wouldn't necessarily know they'd be ready to run.

"I'll be right behind you." Heyes told Curry. "I figure we're about twenty miles out of Green River; should get there in an hour or two. Stay south of the Overland."

Heyes would lag somewhat, and if necessary, change up his course to lead them away. He wanted to play with them a little in order to gain time for Curry and the women to get to Green River. A posse wouldn't be sitting there watching them, so it was probably the women's uncle or, if they were lucky, just someone staking out the camp for robbery. In that case, a free wagon for their pursuers could buy the time they needed to prevent harm from coming to the women. He turned to Melanie who was tying a holster onto her leg and said, "Get any money or small valuables you have because we're probably not coming back to the wagon. Put on some extra clothes in case it gets cold." He flashed a reassuring smile and handed her back her own gun, "Easy now." He looked up and held the butt of the fancy carved gun out for Melanie's sister. "Sara?" Heyes gave her a steady gaze, "Watch where you point this, now. It's loaded." Sara took the gun and smiled with a nod, "Be careful…Joshua."

The girls quickly changed into masculine clothes for warmth and riding as Heyes watched the following party with his glass. The two sisters took no time amassing anything that could be taken. Melanie got her father's pocket watch and the remaining dried beef. Sara had already secured a bed roll onto one of the saddled horses, but there was no time to get anything else except their money. Everyone mounted their horses and took off full gallop across the prairie back to the Overland Trail. Hats, gloves, pants, boots and coats helped to obscure the forms of the women.

Hannibal Heyes laced his way along the base of the hills a quarter mile behind his group still traveling at a decent lope. Men about six or seven strong appeared at the top of the hill soon after the campers departed. He spun his horse around to count of the number of men following. Then he kicked Rambler and slapped her sides to reach a flat out run, glancing back now and then to check on his pursuer's progress.

After going as fast as they dared for about an hour and a half, Kid Curry and the girls took a trail that led into the hills. They finally stopped on a ridge so he could view the landscape and road below. Kid trotted back and forth searching for any sign of his partner. He hadn't seen Heyes for the last half hour and seriously considered backtracking. He and the girls continued along the ridge and dipped below on the opposite side, but stayed parallel to the main road that led to Green River only a couple of miles west. Kid spotted a road going south and took it. A half mile in he saw the road led to a large house nestled in a valley surrounded by fencing and trees.

Curry and Heyes had an unspoken agreement that when confronted by indecision, all things being equal, run first, hide second. But after riding hard for nearly two hours, horses sweaty, their own exhaustion threatening, hiding would give him a chance to think, and rest. That house might even be a good place to hide the women so he could go back for his partner. Heyes couldn't be too far back, but when Curry heard gunshots, he adjusted his plans and made a decision.

Hannibal Heyes laid low and hugged his horse's neck missing a round of bullets singing past his ears. Rambler reared in protest so Heyes veered off the road again and headed through a rocky pass. Snaking trails slowed him more than anything as he avoided the main road in favor of complicating things for those who followed. He stopped and searched the landscape for any trace of his party ahead. He saw horse tracks and decided to follow them. The unshakable trouble on his tail resolved one issue in his mind right now—he needed to think about himself. He'd dodged a couple rounds of bullets already but the next series could find its mark if he didn't press on. He smiled to himself knowing that after the course he'd taken, the gunmen were definitely struggling. Burning that hope as fuel, Heyes spurred his horse on and took another trail.

"Good afternoon, I'm Whitey Peaks", a mulatto gentleman in his sixties bowed generously to Curry and the ladies. "Welcome." The old man gazed at Kid as if making a decision about him. Two large black and brown dogs sat quietly beside the guy, ears twitching. Kid saw they were highly trained and probably lent much to the gentleman's quiet confidence.

"Thank you," Curry indicated himself then the girls, "I'm Thaddeus Jones and this is Sara and Melanie. He looked anxious and confessed, "Sir", He cleared his throat. "We're being followed by bandits and need a place to hide."

Whitey processed Kid's words, studying him, taking into account what appeared to be reasonable honesty as well as two very beautiful women etched with concern. "Come." He offered, guiding them into his home. Kid stopped him. "Our horses are sweaty and may give us away. Do you have a pasture I can turn them loose in?" Curry asked.

"Yes. The smaller area near the house is probably not a good idea, but the larger middle pasture is 50 acres so you can retrieve them if you need to. Its big enough that if you send them out, there are a couple of creeks and low hills so they probably won't be seen tonight." Kid nodded and smiled. This old guy's answers and smooth, whiskey voice worked like balm on an open sore.

The grand home proved to be as magnificent inside as it appeared outside. Fine furniture and luxurious fabrics that included multi-story draperies hanging from stupendous windows thrilled the visitors. A mahogany grand piano especially delighted Melanie who longed to hear the tone of its voice. Sara peered into the great room slack jawed at the luxurious furnishings before her. Their ranch home commanded its own admiration from visitors, but this magnificent home was in a league of its own.

Curry returned after releasing the horses and all stood in the large entry at the base of a sweeping stair case. Open double doors permitted them to view the library to the left. A wide hall led straight back to the kitchen, tucked under the left side of the staircase. Whitey directed them to the right and into the living room. Curry pivoted at the doorway and began to explain what had happened to them. "My partner and I were traveling the Overland Trail when we saw a wagon. We heard shooting and watched the bandits enter the women's wagon. My partner and I caught the men in the act of..." He paused, mouth twisting, "Clearly their intentions were not good". My partner took the men and tied them north of here a couple days ago, but it appears they may be trailing us now."

Whitey observed the women and nodded with understanding. "I'm sorry for your trouble. You are welcome to wait here until they move on." He offered. "Let me show you something you may find useful."

Kid reached back and pulled the drape to peek out a window. There was an extended ridge across the top of a large hill out to the west. A road ran parallel along the base of the hill that ran past house and cut through the highest peaks to the south while the opposite direction wound up on the Overland. Curry and the girls had ridden in on another road from the east, taking it through a pass between low hills. The main road was partly obscured by acres of rolling topography that completed the fourth side of Whitey's valley enclosure. Curry saw no riders and no Heyes.

Whitey took them from the living room and led his guests down the hall to the library. The two dogs flanked him. Floor to ceiling books covered two walls and a 15 foot ladder suspended on tracks hung centered on the longest wall. While it was surely the finest private library any of the visitors had ever seen, the mahogany shelves and warm furnishings made the room feel very cozy and intimate for its size. Soft, sumptuous furniture covered in green velvet invited and comforted. Fancy blue and green brocade hung from two story windows. An over-sized painting of a beautiful woman provided the focal point of the room. Smiling, Whitey led them to an alcove of more books that formed a small alcove with more books off the library. Whitey waited until they crowded into the room before he clicked something under a shelf and a wall of books slid back. "This passage leads downstairs to a cellar. "Come, I'll show you." Whitey told them. Kid glanced at Sara who smiled back at him, eyes wide.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Melanie cooed.

Just then one of the dogs barked and they heard hard rapping on the door. "Go!" Whitey commanded.

"We're indebted, sir," Kid offered. "We're also waiting for my partner. He's about my height and my build with dark hair, blue shirt and black hat. His name is Joshua."

"I'll watch for him. Just stay quiet until I return."

Curry picked up a lantern on a small table behind the secret door and lit it. Whitey clicked the lever and the wall moved back as the three began a steep descent into the dark.

A large, balding man stood at the door of Whitey's house. "My men and I are looking for criminals who kidnapped two women. They headed toward town and may have passed by your ranch." The man then introduced himself as a deputy.

"Wanted men?" Whitey looked alarmed. "In this area?"

"Yes," the deputy said, pleased he'd made an impression. "They are desperate and dangerous."

"Oh, help me! I saw a pack of riders swing south pass my place not fifteen minutes ago. The dogs were barking so I figured they moved on west towards town. I'm alone here and don't entertain strangers."

"Very good, then," The man retreated a step, looking nervously at the dogs that continued to growl. "Are you certain they rode off?" Men shifted around behind him and the deputy turned to view his surroundings again. "I'd hate to move on if they are hiding on your property. Would you mind if we searched the house, and checked your barn?"

"Not at all deputy; you may search, but I can assure you no one is here that shouldn't be. The dogs would tear them to shreds."

"Thank you." The man tipped his hat, glancing at the dogs again. "I'll look around outside. Please keep the dogs in the house until we leave."

"Something's wrong, it's been thirty minutes. They probably got him!" Melanie whispered to Curry and her sister as they sat where two benches came together in a corner of the dark cellar that sat directly under Whitey's barn.

"Shh!" Sara reprimanded. "Don't even say it. He's probably hiding."

"I don't know…" Melanie's voice trailed off.

"I'm going to look around when we get out of here," Kid offered. "If he's out there, I'll find him, even if I have to ride into town."

A gloomy silence ensued and the three sat huddled waiting for word. An excruciating 20 minutes more went by in darkness and they still waited. Kid sat at the corner between the women, his arms about their shoulders. Sara leaned against him breathing soft shallow breaths anxious for Whitey to show up with Joshua. Melanie leaned forward and put her head in her hands. Finally, the wall of books slid out and Whitey called down, "It's me! They're gone."

"Great!" Determination spread over Kid's face as he leapt up the stairs. "I gotta go look for my friend."

"I wouldn't do that, Thaddeus," Whitey warned. "The men searched the area already and found nothing. Otherwise we would have known it. I watched them move out to the road so I came down to get you, but there's a man on horseback watching from the ridge that faces the house."

Kid insisted, "I'll be ok. When the sun goes behind that western rise, it will help. I have to find my partner. Please, tell me everything they said. Did he have anyone with him? Did you recognize him? Was he a sheriff?"

"No. He said he was a deputy but never showed me a badge. I didn't recognize him. Other men came up with him, but there may have been more beyond—I couldn't tell. I told him he could search the house, but he was afraid of the dogs and decided to keep his search outside and around the barn. I waited until they rode away before coming to get you." Whitey didn't ask Kid any questions. He didn't want to know. He had already made up his mind to help them, partly because Thaddeus looked like a friend of a man he knew. "You must be hungry. Let me round up some grub."

"I'll have something quick, but I'm going out to find my friend." Kid said.

The three guests followed their host to the kitchen where Whitey motioned for someone to close the curtains on the windows. The old man went off to cut down a large ham hanging in a pantry off the kitchen and handed a chunk of meat to Thaddeus. Sara gave him a piece of bread from the crusty loaf Whitey provided.

Curry touched his hat, "Whitey, I'm leaving these women in your hands. I already owe you my life, so I trust you will take care of them until I get back." Whitey nodded his head taking special note of the young man's willingness to put his faith in an old man he barely knew on something that clearly mattered very much to him. "They'll be safe with me, Thaddeus!"

Kid smiled then turned to the girls, "Don't worry." Joshua knows how to follow tracks. I think he might be in the valley. He stared intently at Sara for a moment then gave her a quirky smile. "I'll be back soon." Kid checked his holster, adjusted his hat and slipped out the back door of the house into the late afternoon light.

Slowing to trot, Hannibal Heyes secured his hat, slid off his horse and hit the ground running, clutching his saddlebags. He sent his horse down the road with a hard slap on the rump. His arm was bleeding profusely after a bullet found its mark. He checked the blood running from his arm as he ran down a steep slope that dropped off into a canyon. The road he sent his horse down moved away from him in another direction and not only turned away from where he planned to go but also dropped downward in a way that might help keep the horse running a while. He could no longer ride safely with the searing pain in his arm. He had already lost a lot of blood and was exhausted from galloping across rough terrain. Coming darkness and exhaustion paired up against him, calling the shots for the moment. Finding a spot in some brush on the face of the slope, he stopped to address his arm. The bullet only grazed him, but left a wound that needed attention. He pulled the bandanna from around his neck and tied it securely around his arm grinding his teeth until he finished doctoring. He paused to hear himself breathe, struggling with nausea. Knowing he might pass out he climbed around the brush and rocks until he found a safe spot to rest.

Kid Curry made his way on foot in the waning light. The moon would come later and until that time it allowed him to trail other riders in secrecy. He packed a spare gun stuffed into the front of his pants and another in his holster. Fog started to slink in and hung around rocks and trees like halos. Kid made his way along the side of the road squatting most of the way. He stopped frequently to listen, systematically canvassing the land for his partner. He saw two men on the western ridge and decided to head east since the tracks showed he and the girls entered Whitey's valley from that side.

After canvassing about for an hour, Kid came across a different group of men. They sat on horseback to the south well beyond the property line. He pulled up as close as possible and regretted not being able to hear their plans but watched as the four gathered in conference. He could clearly see they hadn't gotten to Heyes yet, but saw one man held Rambler by the reins.

Remembering how the road dropped at the top of the hill, Kid made a decision to double back and check the east hill again. It was a hunch, but if the men had only found his horse, chances were good that Heyes made his escape back farther and was trying to get to Whitey's house. The problem was the house was the focal point and a likely stop. Curry moved back several yards and made his way back to spot at the top of the road where it split. That would be a logical place to begin to look for Heyes. When he'd gotten a safe distance from the men, he began to call softly to his friend. He took a dangerously steep path back to the eastern ridge to avoid being seen.

"Heyes!" He called softly for the hundredth time. Slipping and sliding, Curry moved along slowly and repeated, "Heyes!"

Coming to sheer cliff that dropped off a good hundred feet, a gun clicked from the rocks below.

"Don't shoot!" Someone called. Surprised, Curry dropped to the ground in case it was one of the sheriff's men.

"Kid!" Heyes directed, his voice now familiar, "Over here."

Curry found him, arm wrapped at the shoulder, dark shirt glistening with blood. "Let's get out of here. There's a place where we can get you help. Can you walk?"

"Yea, it's not that bad. I think I passed out." Heyes snorted, grimacing in pain then smiled into his friend's welcome face. "Good thing you found me."

Curry grabbed Heyes' saddlebags and dusted off his hat, which he placed on his head then slipped his arm around his shoulders. They moved back toward the mansion crawling through scrub as they slipped along the descending slope. Stopping to rest periodically and listen, Heyes asked his friend how many men he had been tailing.

"There were two on that west ridge, plus another group of four to the south."

"That's not good, because at my last count there were seven. That means they've split up, which increases our chances of running into one of them."

"Maybe one went home." Kid said, shrugging.

Heyes knit his brow and lowered his voice. "Seven men were on my tail as I left my horse at the top of the road maybe thirty minutes ago. I was lucky to take only one bullet!"

Kid swallowed hard. "Four of them are behind us, two out there… if that other one is between us and the house, we might need to wait for daylight to get a better look at the situation before we go back to the house."

"Is that where you left the girls?"

"Yea," Kid ran a leather gloved hand through his hair. "They're safe for now."

"If the place is being watched, we can't go back there."

"It is pretty safe—at least, inside." He smiled to himself thinking how lucky he was to find Whitey and that incredible hidden passage. Devil's Hole had nothing on Whitey's. A twig snapped underfoot causing both men to duck and halt. They waited for a few minutes before they inched, paused, inched, and paused working their way toward the house. Moving in short bursts they stopped and listen to the night. As darkness wore on, the fog lifted and a near full moon threatened to tattle on them. Having gone a little more than half the distance back, Heyes squatted and massaged his arm. He scooted along for a couple of yards, then knelt and dropped his head to the ground, gritting his teeth. "Kid, I gotta stop."

"Ok, hang on. Let me find a place." Curry propped his injured friend up against a rock and began scouting the area for a hiding place that would conceal them safely during the vulnerability of sleep. He found one under the roots of a large tree that hung out over a brush-covered crevasse. Heyes passed out within minutes of crowding himself under an enormous ball of exposed tree roots and Kid soon nodded off next to him.

Chapter 4  
Saturday

The sound of thundering hooves nearby woke Curry and Heyes at dawn. Several riders now passed along the eastern ridge to take the road back to the Overland Trail. After the sun rose, even in broad daylight the tree root afforded them a pretty nice cover from which to study their surroundings. It was a bright, cloudless day and visibility was hindered only by boulders and high chaparral. Kid's stomach growled. He glanced at his partner, catching a quirky smile at the corner of Heyes' lips and felt a moment of relief. He looked good. The main road that led to the house was now dotted with horsemen. Once they dropped down from their position, the house stood between them and the men.

"They're still watching the house." Heyes said.

"That's ok." Kid reassured him. "No one's gonna find anyone."

"A cellar?"

"Of sorts," He shrugged, "The access is hidden behind a wall of books in a library. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Kid Curry shook his head, "For whatever reason that old guy is determined to help us. If it weren't for him last night, I'd be dead or in jail by now and I don't even want to think about what might happen to the girls. The deputy told him we were wanted for something but he still covered for us.

"A deputy checked the house?"

Curry grinned. "He only searched outside because the guy has a couple of really big, well trained dogs the deputy couldn't stomach. That old guy actually offered for them to search inside, but the deputy didn't want to deal with the dogs. It doesn't matter either way, because they will never find the girls. I just hope Whitey chases them off his property when they don't turn up anything. He knows we still have to get back inside."

"Whitey?" Heyes spun around. "Whitey Peaks?"

"You know him?" Kid looked back slack-jawed. He pulled back his chin and grinned. "Heyes… that's amazing!"

His friend's eyes sparkled and he smiled broadly. "Whitey Peaks helped us get away from the sheriff in Laramie a couple of years ago." Heyes pulled down the corners of his mouth in mock humility, "Of course that was because I kind of saved his life the day before. You were playing poker, drinking too much and had passed out. Remember? Anyway, we hauled you out of town in the back of Whitey's buckboard. Maybe he recognized you." Heyes looked back at the house, "That old coot sure has a knack for obstructing justice." He pushed his hat back and grinned. "I never saw where he lived, but he told me about the house. I didn't believe him. He said he built that place with his own hands. Incredible story, I'll have to tell you more about it one of these days."

"Uh, yeah," Kid tilted his head in disbelief. He watched the riders swirl about in the distance, running left and right. He took his hat off and asked. "What about now?"

"Nah," Heyes dismissed. "Get us back to the house and I'll fill you in there."

"Yea, right," Kid snorted as he looked out from their hiding place. "No problem."

Curry studied the area watching the men split up, gather again, then dart back and forth on horses. They were too far away to see actual individuals, but it was still too risky to move, so they remained at the east end of the property behind the ridge of a hill. About four o'clock the circumstances changed. Three riders went north on the road and separated, one went east on the Overland and two headed west toward Green River. Four men trotted their horses across the western ridge before disappearing on the far side. When everything was clear, Kid whispered, "Heyes."

He nodded.

"Back that way and circle wide."

"Go!"

Curry and Heyes crawled through low growth in cracks in the rocks on the hill to the east side of Whitey's property, combat crawling on their bellies until they reached a thicket. Creeping along, they eased down a rocky facade beyond the eastern pasture where they could enter the house through the back entry. Within twenty minutes they arrived at the house and knocked gently on the door. When it opened, the boys slid in quietly as everyone broke out in hushed shouts of joy, Whitey patting their backs.

"Heyes! Boy is it good to see you again, alive and well!" Warmth and admiration creased the man's face in a brilliant smile. "I thought I recognized The Kid and figured it was you out there, but I couldn't be sure." He pulled back to size up his old friend. "You have an alias? Joshua?" Whitey smiled at him while he shook Kid's hand. "Yea Whitey," Heyes first pointed a thumb at himself, then at the Kid, "Alias Smith…and Jones."

Melanie and Sara stood in the midst of the celebration eyes wide with a mixture of joy, relief and bewilderment. Heyes looked over at Melanie and she moved toward him eyeing the bloody bandanna. Examining his arm, she exclaimed. "You're hurt!" She picked at the dark blood-soaked bandanna and steered him into a chair in the kitchen.

"Easy." He objected as she started to untie the cloth.

"You need a bath. This wound needs to be cleaned." She announced. Turning to Kid she asked, "Thaddeus?"

Curry smiled at her use of his alias, "Ma'am."

"Can you draw a bath?" She asked, then to Whitey, "We need soap and towels. Sara, see if Whitey has a clean shirt. No wait…he needs everything!"

The girls had already taken opportunity to clean themselves up. They wore borrowed riding outfits from Whitey while their own things dried. Melanie wore a fitted riding shirt and the breeches of black angora that fit perfectly. Sara wore a beautiful buttoned white blouse and black breeches taking the appearance of a princess ready for a fox hunt.

Distracted and unaware of the effect she had, Melanie leaned in to untie the bandanna and pull off Heyes' shirt. Gently examining the wound she reached for a warm, soapy cloth. Heyes watched her hands for a while, sneaking looks at her face as she worked the edges first. When she went deeper, he gritted his teeth grunted and defended himself grabbing her wrist with his free hand.

Pausing to take a deep breath, Melanie focused on the wound and continued working after he released her. Ready to deflect the free hand again, she ignored his gaze and used the hot bubbly cloth to clean the core. "Shhht!" He jerked away, scowling. Melanie took a breath, smiled sweetly and glared at him, "I'm nowhere near done, __bambino__ , so sit still. You need to keep that hand to yourself or I'll tie it down!" She paused to watch his brow knit and gave him a little grin. "Maybe Whitey has something for pain?"

Without saying a word, Whitey left and returned with a bottle of whiskey and handed it to Curry, "This will do us all some good," He smiled. Kid accepted the bottle pausing to read the label and jerked his chin in admiration. Pulling the top he stopped to breath in the aroma. "Whew! Top notch spirits, Whitey! This is an honor!" Pulling glasses from the shelf Whitey pointed at, he began to pour a glass each for the five of them. After Curry passed a second one to Heyes, he finally took the shot he'd poured for himself and said in a choked whisper, "Ho-ho! This is great!"

"When you're done working on 'Smith' over there, we can sit in the library in case you folks need to use the passage." The old man smiled. Despite knowing who Smith and Jones were, everyone now refused to use their given names. As the evening progressed, the unspoken names game brought half-smiles and smirks. There seemed an understanding that the first careless person using 'Heyes' or 'Kid' would somehow lose.

After Melanie finished, she wrapped Heyes' shoulder and sent the partially clean, wounded man off for a bath. "Don't get that wet." She ordered. Curry helped Heyes fill a tub with water. He retrieved a bar of soap, a towel and left. Heyes sat in the water, half sleeping and soaked until the water cooled. He dressed himself in a borrowed long sleeve cotton undershirt and a pair of pants that Whitey provided. Kid later excused himself to check on Heyes and finding him finished, decided to take the opportunity to also bathe. Heyes found the trio in the library sitting around talking about how they all met.

Sara was telling the story of the gun mishap the day they met and they were all laughing when Heyes walked into the room. Melanie felt the air leave the library when her patient entered. His tousled wet hair fell unchecked across his forehead and the long sleeve shirt unbuttoned at the neck appeared the epitome of masculine. There was something so intimate about him that way and his proximity made her blush. He crouched beside her chair folding his hands between his knees. Whitey got up to retrieve a chair, "No, thanks." Heyes smiled appreciatively. "But I'd sure like to take a look at the hiding place I've heard so much about."

Whitey led the way, jubilant, explaining the latch and mechanism in great detail. "It has a spring like a clock which this lever releases. Another spring sends it back. This is my own design and handiwork," the old man smiled. "I told you how I was working on it? Well, it's finally finished!"

"This is really amazing! I got to admit, I really didn't think it was anything like this!" Heyes said appreciatively. Whitey continued to explain there was a secret screen window that viewed the library. Kid arrived in time for the remaining bits of a riveting story: Whitey told how he worked as a carpenter, but had also traveled for seven years working as a magician. He met his former employer nearly 40 years prior and the two formed a lifetime friendship. Accomplished in woodworking and special gadgets, Whitey caught the attention of Ronald Buckman who hired him to make improvements to his own house. They formed a profitable partnership and built several houses in the area. "Buckman's house is about ten miles from here although his town is out that way, he pointed. That house has similar secret passages."

Whitey lowered his voice explaining that the friendship endured until Buckman's death five years prior. A real estate developer and builder, Buckman owned buildings and business in several towns, including much of another town to the west. He and Whitey gave work to the Chinese and indigents who helped build a grand home in Salt Creek as well as others, mostly in Wyoming, using Whitey's skill and designs and Buckman's money.

The library passage proved to be more elaborate than anyone first noticed. Lighting two lanterns and handing one to the Kid, Whitey descended the stairs to show the group how the passage that descended at first also went up a flight of stairs behind a hidden door and exited into the barn. Another hall and door at the base of the stairs led to a small room with a cellar door to the outside. All the doors in and out of the passage had been so finely finished they remained undetectable even at close scrutiny. The main hall and storage room proved to be the heart of the underground structure; a place they didn't even know existed until Whitey showed them its hidden door. Two walls in the lower room lined with floor to ceiling shelves supplied a variety of preserved food. A working water pump, fuel, wood, coal, tools, lanterns, bedding, even a dry toilet, plus a small stove with a ventilation shaft completed the space. "I rotate this food as I supply my own needs. It is sufficient for several folks to live here for an extended period." Whitey explained.

"I see what you mean about how safe this place is." Heyes said. The group backtracked through the passage to the library as Whitey gave them the history of the house and explained how its inspiration came from his wife who also did intricate work on the mechanisms. After selling most of the interest in Buckman Enterprise and other properties, Whitey only owned the one home, now. "I'd give even it up for an afternoon with Mara." Whitey said. He told them how he lost his wife and only child to influenza several years ago and that it was his wife's portrait that hung in the library. "Death took everyone I loved," He trailed off. He smiled and petted the head of a dog resting quietly at his feet, "Except my dogs."

"Was it a son or daughter?" Sara asked gently.  
The old guy pointed to two different photos setting on a side table in the library. The girls gathered them up. "He's beautiful, Whitey." Melanie observed. "I'm so sorry."

Having entered the library at the top of the passage Heyes, Melanie and Whitey found a seat while Sara and Kid lingered behind. Smiling to himself, Heyes slipped back out of the passage and set the lantern down at the top of the stairs.

Melanie asked Whitey if he knew her uncle. "I've heard of Ray Tomlinson. Mr. Buckman spoke of him just before he passed; he's one tough character." Whitey said.

Kid and Sara joined the group after finishing a short conversation in the passage and all sat in the library talking. Melanie told the men about her uncle. "Ray showed up about ten years ago and started taking over the ranch when Dad got sick. Sara and I watched things grow progressively worse, but we never let on to Pa. Especially the last couple years; he was just too sick. Ray killed one of Dad's men when he discovered he was stealing money. During the investigation, he told the sheriff the Chuck tried to shoot him first, but Sara saw the whole thing. It was in cold blood! They didn't believe her. That's why we didn't put up too much when he slapped us around or confront him about taking over." She paused and took a breath. "He almost broke Sara's arm one day. It was so swollen she couldn't use it for a month! We asked for help but the sheriff in town didn't want to get involved. We stayed in our room for the last few months after Ray…" She paused and swallowed. "Ray knocked me down the stairs after I slapped him for making a pass at me."

Heyes' face darkened and his jaw set. Kid blurted, "You girls can't go back there until we're finished with that guy!"

"He's not one to get mixed up with; I'm not sure there's much anyone can do." Sara shook her head.

"How big is the operation?" Heyes asked.

"Pa ran a herd of about five hundred cattle every year." Sara sighed and responded, "It's a tough business for the two of us to run alone. The workers are afraid of Ray and refused to deal with us after Pa died. Ray was helpful at first. Dad only brought him in because he helped him increase production. It's not like he didn't work. He feels it's owed to him."

Melanie snorted and all fell quiet for a couple minutes. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She looked over at Sara who was hugging herself then glanced back at Heyes to check the dressing on his wounded arm and found his eyes closed. She smiled knowingly and raised her brows at Curry. He called his friend's name sharply, "Joshua!"

The wounded man jumped. Everyone laughed as Melanie grasped his hand and steadied him. "I think we'd better put this boy to bed. Where should that be, Whitey?"

"I know you girls stayed in the hidden room last night, but there's a more comfortable room off of the kitchen with two beds. The rest will probably have to sleep upstairs," The old man offered.

"I think we should put the girls in the room upstairs. We can go in the one off the kitchen." Kid suggested.

"How about here on the library floor," Melanie offered.

Kid's anger about Ray dissipated instantly and he glanced over at Heyes who didn't even try to hide a look of appreciation for the sleeping arrangements she proposed.

Sara agreed, "How is Whitey going to account for messed up beds all over the place if those men show up again decide to search inside? Should anyone come to the door, we'll grab our own blankets and carry them down to the cellar leaving the house free of evidence."

Heyes shot a look at his partner. It wasn't the first time the girls surprised him. The idea was enticing. Kid knew exactly what he was thinking and smirked. Whitey disappeared to retrieve bedding and returned with a stack of blankets, dropping them off only to leave again to get some pillows. "If there's nothing else, I'll see you all in the morning. My room is at the top of the stairs, if you need me." Whitey dropped the pillows off and began to pull the library doors closed.

"Good night, Whitey, and thank you!" Everyone chimed.

Heyes went to check the window that looked out to the front yard for the fourth time. When he returned for his blanket, Kid extinguished one of the lanterns leaving the last one to cast its faint yellow glow. Heyes picked up a pillow and tossed it across the room hitting Kid in the chest. Curry caught the pillow and wasted no time pretending to aim for Heyes' head, but changed up and swung down across his belly instead.

"Ungh! I give!" Heyes trapped the pillow in his arms resigning with a show of his hand. The girls stood by snorting and giggling, pillows ready, smiling like thieves with treasure.

"Ok, boys," Melanie warned. She perused the logistics of everything before arranging her bed. Dropping to her knees, she folded her blanket and climbed inside. Sara quickly followed placing her bedding next to Melanie's. Distracted, the men stood watching and glanced at each other in amusement.

Melanie looked up first, feeling a pair of eyes watching. Heyes seized her attention and with a provocative nod asked for a change in the floor plan. Like a grass fire, flames from his suggestion spread through her. Fighting a smile she shook her head no. Undaunted he blinked and indicated the floor again with a nod.

Sara folded back the top blanket completing her task to find an interesting non-verbal conversation going on between Heyes and Melanie. Her suspicions fueled a cautious gaze into the room that evoked a snort from somewhere and everyone started laughing. Kid finally blurted out what they were thinking, "Ok...obviously nothing's going to happen here tonight, so if it's all the same to you all," He switched a thumb between Sara and Heyes, "I'd much rather sleep next to you than him."

Sara held her composure and shrugged. They were well beyond complaint at this point so why make a fuss? The thought of Thaddeus so near was overwhelming and put her nerves in play, but the circumstances called the shots and she wanted to be close to him.

Establishing their own real estate on the floor as though everything was perfectly normal, they assembled their blankets in a kind of circle. Once under their covers, the four faced each other the center of the room, each of the men easing closer to his girl. "This is perfectly insane." Melanie giggled rolling on her belly to talk.

"That's only because you're stuck sleeping next to him," Kid drawled, sliding his shirt off over his head in the semi-darkness everyone's eyes had now adjusted to. Suppressing a giggle Melanie asked, "Why? Does he snore or something?"

"Or something," Kid raised a brow.

"Hey! I wouldn't talk," Heyes shot back. "You're not exactly a dream date."

Sara exhaled and rolled her eyes, "Typical Wyoming night."

Melanie giggled. As crazy wrong as it was, for all anyone was concerned, it couldn't feel more right.

"Oh yea," Heyes pointed a thumb at Kid, "One time a couple of years ago, on a cattle run through Colorado, all his snoring attracted a bear cub that crawled in next to him… thought he was its mother." Silence followed for a second and the girls bust out laughing. Heyes finished, "Lemme tell ya, Thaddeus can dance!"

The girls giggled and snorted. Curry shook his head in disgust saying,. "C'mon now, don't get me started." He rolled over on his back, let out a long sigh and stretched. "If I snore, don't worry, bears sleep outside." He reached over and blew out the yellow lantern flame leaving the quartet to adjust to the shadows. Lying sideways facing Curry, Sara observed the wavy hair of his silhouette. He felt her warm gaze in the quiet that followed. Rolling onto his side, he scooted closer and sent a finger over to stroke her chin letting it find its way to her lips. Light from the moon snuck in under the door and lit features in Kid's sober blue eyes that put Sara in a knot. She touched a finger to her lips and then to his, to represent a kiss. Curry shook his head leaning over to bypass her finger and take the one thing he'd been anticipating all day—a real kiss, the right way.

As soon as Kid put the lantern out, Heyes reached for Melanie and laid his hand on her hip. She reached back and rested her fingers on his forearm. Paralyzed by some inner betrayal and a naive hope he would maintain decency, she took a breath as he laid his hand on her belly. He traced a word on the flat of her stomach with his finger. Amused, she finally exhaled and whispered back what he wrote. "Hi." Hoping to settle her accelerated breathing she exhaled slowly before turning over to face him and rested her head on one of his arms.

Just being in the same room with Melanie raised the temperature ten degrees, but lying next to her this way could be Heyes' undoing. He reminded himself again they weren't alone and focused on retrieving an errant strand of hair that fell across her face and slid it across the contours of her silky cheek and over her shoulder. She held her breath and closed her eyes. Heyes touched her chin and when she looked at him he leaned in and kissed her, savoring the female equivalent of fine whiskey. Ignoring his own interior warnings he cleared his throat to cover an involuntary growl and continued to drink, discounting the uncomfortable way he was going to have to sober up. Melanie's innocent, hungry response exploded in Heyes like nitro. She slid an arm up past his shoulder, around his neck and gently laced her fingers through his hair as she returned a passionate kiss.

"Smith!" Kid's voice sounded like it came from the moon.

"Hmm?" The disinterested response provoked a greater assertion. "Heyes!"

"Yea,"

"I heard something."

Piqued, Heyes rolled away from Melanie into a sitting position, cradling his head in his hands and cleared his throat. "Like what?"

He paused, "Like a shotgun being loaded."

Hannibal Heyes sprang to his feet and the two men slid open one library door sprinting to the living room to peek outside through openings in the draperies. Under the light blanket of distant stars, crickets harmonized. Returning the fabric back to the window, Kid drawled.

"She deserves for you not to break her heart Heyes."

The silence at the other window was long before he finally answered, "What do you want me to say, Kid?"

"Nothin'."

"No shotgun?"

Curry just exhaled.

Heyes leapt across the space between them grunting in pain as he tackled Kid to the ground. They wrestled for a moment, but with the disadvantage of Heyes' injury Kid bucked and threw his opponent over sideways reversing their positions in a quick single move. Kid grabbed his cousin's shirt with two fists securing him easily to the floor and waited for his friend to look at him as a grin spread slowly over his face. Blue eyes creasing, Curry gave Heyes a gentle shake. "Get some sleep, would ya?"

That morning, an indecisive sun played behind plump, drifting clouds that meandered like weary cattle across the prairie sky. Sneaking through the fabric covering the windows, morning light found two pairs of individuals folded together like crescent moons on the library floor snuggled back to front. The four began stirring in the quiet moments of dawn. Heyes held Melanie from behind and upon waking he drew his body in closer to match the curl of hers. His fingers playfully tickled and teased until she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Mph!" He stifled a grunt trying not to disturb Sara and Kid.

"All right you two," Curry warned. 'Knock it off."

"Thaddeus, you're starting to get on my nerves." Heyes complained, pinching Melanie gently on her belly. She flipped over in his arms and started a mini pinch fest on him in protest. Sara giggled as Kid reached in to kiss her neck in defiance of his own warning.

Temporarily free of the pressures of the outside world, the fugitives found themselves treading together in a remarkable pool of circumstances. For the sake of their journey, each one silently accepted the negatives of that ride without projecting them back on the group. Their innocent sexy play drowned out the threat of their troubles. For a while the future remained cast off and forgotten. And when Whitey opened the doors, even their unresolved passions found a moment to rest.

Chapter 5  
Sunday

"Breakfast is ready!" The old man called.

"We gotta find a way to the telegraph office in Green River." Heyes spoke alone with Curry after shoving the last of a biscuit in his mouth. He was gazing through a crack in the heavy brocade draperies that hung more than two stories high in the front room. "It might make the difference on how we deal with this situation." Disappointed at their predicament, he projected a look of defeat, "I'm counting on that amnesty, Kid."

Curry responded, "I've thought about it and we can't just sit here. But that doesn't mean we can't leave, either. Have you figured out how we're going to handle this?"

"I have a couple of ideas."

"Like?"

"One of us rides to the telegraph station to contact Lom." Heyes smirked.

"That's a terrible idea!" Kid snorted. "Who wants to be that guy?"

"Well, we can't wait here forever! They'll be watching local towns and see we haven't passed through. They will lie in wait and the minute we think they've forgotten us and leave the house and wham! We're trapped." Heyes clamped his hands together to emphasize his point.

He thought a moment and said, "Whitey has a buckboard. One or both of us could hide in the back while he drives us into town. We'll get off at the right time and hit the telegraph office."

"That's not gonna work. How are we going to get back out of town?"

"The same way we get in, point being, if we get Lom to come, we can clear this up." Heyes responded.

Melanie walked in the room late in the conversation, but captured the gist of their plans. "That doesn't make sense; those men are still watching! You could be seen! How about Sara and I go into town and send the telegraph. If we dress like men, hats and all, no one will even notice us."

"Psh," Heyes rolled his eyes heavenward and looked back out the crack. "No."

Kid shook his head, "It's too dangerous Melanie. The men out there are probably Ray's employees. You'll be right back where you started."

"We'll hide in the back of Whitey's buckboard," She countered. Sara and I will be in and out of town before they can do anything. We're only a couple miles away. We'll send the telegraph and leave."

Heyes interrupted, "Forget it Melanie. It's too dangerous. You and Sara are staying here."

"Fine," Melanie responded. "We'll all just stay here until they're gone. If you two go and get caught, what are we supposed to do? It's not like you two can waltz into town and be missed. Those guys know exactly who they're after! All they have to do is wait until you leave! And then come after us! You're coming from the place they expected, about the time they expected. Someone may even be able to identify you! You fit the wanted poster descriptions perfectly. It's crazy!"

Hannibal Heyes took most of the credit for many of the robberies and heists he and Kid had done in their past not to mention some brilliant, reasonably honest scams since. If anyone dictated strategy other than him, it certainly wasn't planned that way. Heyes didn't easily relinquish control to anyone, especially when it concerned his future. He and Kid would lay low and sneak into town like they'd done hundreds of times before. So the answer came easily. "Kid and I will go." He meant the statement to be final.

"Well, then we're going to follow you so we can break you out of jail." She announced. Growing thin on patience, he barked, "You're not leaving here, Melanie! Kid and I are going and we're going alone."

The rejection of her idea stung as badly as the way he worded it. Not because she wanted to be right, but because she was right and he failed to see it. And it scared her. Sara stood at the doorway listening. Overwhelmed and helpless she asked Curry, "When are you leaving?"

"Shut up, Sara," Melanie spat and walked out of the room.

The three men worked quietly harnessing the horses in the barn finishing just before noon. A variety of supply boxes and blankets had been arranged to conceal the two men on the buckboard while Whitey drove into town. If they were caught, Whitey would pretend he didn't know they had hitched a ride. There was no movement in the area as they left the house. Curled up on one side under a blanket Kid quietly savored in his mind the last few moments with Sara who had wrapped herself around his neck just before he left. Similarly entwined around his heart she now held a place he normally kept protected from women, for a good reason—all the trouble it caused. For everyone's safety, for now, he made a decision to cast her from his mind.

Fifteen minutes later, horses at a walk, Whitey called back to the men under blankets in the buckboard, "Easy…two riders up ahead." Whitey touched the brim of his hat as he passed them unrestricted.

"Sir," One of the riders turned around, horse dancing, questioned, "Does this road reach the Overland Trail?"

"Indeed," Whitey stopped the carriage glancing over his shoulder with quiet ease. "Stay on the road straight through." He pointed. "Have you not encountered many travelers out today?" He queried back.

"None, sir," They offered.

"Good day to you then."

"Good day." The riders straightened their horses out and proceeded down the road. After they moved beyond a hill Whitey spoke to his passengers. "That was a man and his son; they moved on. Whitey directed the buckboard in silence for a while. The three of them had a mile to go when Whitey suddenly announced, "We have two men on horseback ahead."

Whitey's brow glistened in the sun but he remained calm and focused about his task. He touched his hat as the riders approached. "What have you got there, old boy?" The big dark haired man's badge glinted on his chest.

"I'm heading to town for supplies." Whitey replied and continued forward.

"Really?" The thin, balding guy frowned. "Hold it right there."

Heyes clinched his jaw. He heard the squeak of leather and a boot scrape against the dirt.

Kid felt the prod of a rifle against his side. "Well, what have we here?"

"I got one too!" The other deputy gloated. Snapping the blankets off in unison the dark haired man gushed, "Do get up gentlemen, or should I say, kidnappers? We've been waiting for you."

Whitey let out a cry. "What in tarnation! How'd you get back there?"

Kid cut a look over at Heyes who momentarily squeezed his eyes shut. He spoke to Whitey to complete the facade to keep him from being implicated. "Sorry, old man. We needed a ride to town." Then he looked at the man who appeared to be in charge. "I'm afraid you're mistaken." Heyes needed to make the standard effort.

"Don't think so," The man shook his head. "We got it firsthand that you boys kidnapped some women, robbed them, then tied their men up and left them out to die in the desert."

"Sir," Heyes interrupted. "Those two men tried to rape the women so I tied them up long enough to get away and get the women to safety," He cleared his throat.

"Well, we'll have to see about that now won't we?" The big man snorted. "The sheriff will determine if you're telling the truth, but since you two are suspects for attempted murder… you're going to jail!"

Back at the mansion the girls paced frantically. "It'll be dark soon." Melanie's voice cracked. She reached down to comfort one of Whiteys' dogs. They'd been outside but once brought in, the canines whined and pawed at the door anxious for Whitey's return.

"This is doing no good," Sara stiffened. "I'm done wondering. You're right. Someone got them. I just hope they're alive. Maybe they are in jail. I want to stop fretting and do something!"

"We've got to go into town," Melanie told her sister.

"What good will that do?"

"We'll worry about that then. Come with me."

The girls took the stairs two by two separating to search rooms and closets for help. Melanie already had some idea of what she wanted to do but a discovery sent her thoughts into overdrive and a plan began to form in her mind. They started searching for anything that could be of assistance. On the third floor they found a collection of magician's fare including costumes, props and makeup. The collection was surprisingly extensive and the girls delighted at both volume and variety: From fancy magician assistant costumes to clown shoes to an intriguing ventriloquist dummy and dozens of gowns and dresses. Fingering through years of Whitey's memorabilia, they discussed every possible angle of their plot layering in all the trimmings to assure success. The girls spent the time poring over ideas comparing each one to available materials.

"We've got to do this right." Sara said. Retrieving a lantern when darkness settled the girls sat down and worked out the details of a scheme. Sara found a needle and thread to begin the task of altering the clothes they needed to bring their plan to fruition. Rehearsing their story, they honed the details with every eventuality covered. An hour later, they heard the dogs begin to bark.

Grabbing everything they needed and replacing the rest, the girls wasted no time and scrambled downstairs to the library, then down the passage. Disappearing behind the wall they slid the bookcase closed until it clicked leaving the dogs to handle trespassers. Melanie stood behind the door and leaned against the wall when her arm moved something. A portion of the wall behind several volumes of books proved to be the hidden screen that allowed one-way viewing of the other side. They had pulled the library doors shut before going into the passage and she could still see they remained closed. Now they could watch who entered the room without concern.

Hannibal Heyes stared at the toes of his boots propped against the cell bars. Across from him in the next cell, Kid reclined, snoring softly. Heyes closed his eyes. Melanie met him somewhere in the fog of his mind but when he reached for her, she shook her head and turned away. The cot squeaked as he shifted to one side, rubbing his shoulder. Exhausted from beating himself up and expending useless hours trying to talk to the unusually silent deputy, he withdrew to regain his energy and wait for inspiration.

If they could prove their innocence without being identified, this might all turn out ok. Heyes had already considered the kidnapping and attempted murder charges argument from every side. He was satisfied he could convince anyone that what he was being charged with was at best a mockery of justice and at worst, a frame up. But they needed the girl's testimony. If he got the chance, the stupid animals that put him in jail were going to finish his sentence.

"Whitey!" Melanie cried. Clicking the lever for the passage door she slipped out with Sara. They had watched their old friend enter the room waiting long enough to see that he was alone before exiting the passage. He bent over to calm the dogs that celebrated his homecoming. Sadness glazed his eyes, but he smiled broadly as he straightened to see the girls emerge from the passage, "Melanie! Sara! I'd hoped!"

"What happened? The boys aren't with you? Are they in jail?" Sara fired questions nonstop.

"They're fine. But yes, they are in jail," He admitted. "We were caught outside of town by two men. They were going to put me in jail for aiding criminals and obstructing justice." he waved his hand. "But we told them they hid in the back of the wagon without my knowledge, so the sheriff let me go."

"Two men?"

"Yes. They said you our boys robbed and kidnapped you women.

"Those jackasses!" Sara spat. "How stupid can those rapists be? Don't they know we can identify them"?

"Ah, yes! It is a problem for you girls because you can testify against them." Whitey said. "Joshua and Thaddeus want me to hide you until they need you. You girls are in a lot of danger. If anyone comes knocking, you must use the passage!"

"Oh, don't' worry, we will." Sara told him, then, "You must be starved! Let me get you something."

"Oh, girls, I couldn't eat a thing. I'm afraid I'm not going to want to eat or sleep until those boys are out of jail. I feel guilty because I'm here and they aren't!"

"Nonsense," Melanie corrected him. "We need you to help us get them out!"

"I hope you aren't thinking of busting them out?" Whitey looked horrified.

"Hold on, Whitey, we're way ahead of you." Melanie purred. "Check it out…"

Kid Curry stirred awake and groaned remembering he was in jail. He dropped his feet onto the floor and ran his fingers through thick, honey colored hair. He glanced over at Heyes' head leaning against the bars. Jail again. If anyone figured out they were Heyes and Curry, this might be permanent. The sentence of twenty years hung heavier each time. If anyone discovered they really were, and the new charges stuck, he'd only see blue sky well after he turned fifty. Standing to stretch he heard his stomach growl reminding him how bad the jail food would be but wanting it just the same.

Heyes sat wondering what happened when Whitey made it back to the mansion. The girls knew now. His gut burned thinking about it. This is exactly what Melanie feared. Thinking about her reaction made him sick. Kid warned him about this last night. He regretted not sticking to their original plan to turn back the day they left town. Attachment leads to entanglement which leads to trouble which leads to…hell, inevitably. That was one long black train Heyes managed to avoid, until now. He snorted. Life would be a lot easier if he had avoided trains altogether. Studying the ceiling, he realized something. Melanie had really gotten to him. Less than a week ago he roamed free. Now, all he could think about was protecting the girls, and holding Melanie again. Someone lit a streetlamp outside, but it did little to dispel the darkness coming on.

"Kid?"

"Yea?"

"We're gonna get out of this."

"You always say that."

"Yea, and we do, right?"

"Things don't look good, Heyes. We have to defend ourselves using aliases. I don't know how long that will hold out. What if they find out who we are? Even if we do get amnesty-and so far we've only been disappointed-the governor probably won't honor that now that we're back in jail for kidnapping. And then there's Whitey to consider. And the girls…"

"You're thinkin' again, Kid. You gotta stop doing that and leave it to me. I don't go fast drawin' pistols and you shouldn't go thinkin'. We're gonna get out of this." A good Heyes scheme at a bad time often brought him hope. Curry waited quietly for an hour before Heyes spoke again, "I have an idea. "

"Yea, I hope it's not like the last one."

"Kid, now don't go talkin' that way. I never claimed to be perfect; a genius, maybe."

Curry smiled. "Yea, what's the plan?"

"That's better." His partner grinned.

The tree lined drive of Whitey's stately mansion appeared quiet. But the house itself fairly crackled with life inside. Clothes and shoes covered the beds in the upper room and Melanie and Sara gathered the piles they needed to carry out their plan. Melanie said to Whitey, "While you were gone, we did some thinking and I must confess, some searching. We didn't mean to disregard your privacy but…"

"Don't even mention it!" Whitey interrupted. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

Melanie grinned. "We're going into town to report a crime."

"We start in the morning." Sara said.

Whitey started to balk, pointing out a list of what ifs. But soon his eyes twinkled. "Let's do it!"

Heyes and he twisted around on his cot checking to see if his partner was awake. Kid's eyes glowed in the dim light as he turned toward the sound of movement. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Kid, we'll ask to wire Lom first thing. Refusing to permit us to send a telegraph to obtain a lawyer is against the law. When Lom gets here, they'll have to throw the case out. Even if we were to go to trial and found guilty, denying us access to a lawyer will undo the judgment. I heard the deputy say that Wyoming didn't owe kidnappers anything. Preventing us from contacting Lom or getting a lawyer is the equivalent of denying us counsel-a guaranteed right for citizens in federal cases since 1858! We'll actually get to put them in jail!"

Curry smiled at his friend's optimistic and fairly detailed analysis and answered, "Ok… But what if we can't get a lawyer?"

"Even the worst criminals can get basic representation, Kid, especially in cases where rights have been denied."

"Great!" His cousin spat, "Because as far as anyone is concerned, we are the worst criminals! That is, if they find out exactly who we really are." Then he asked, "How are we paying for this lawyer?"

"Forget that. We may not have to pay. Some attorneys work pro bono."

"Pro what?!"

"Pro bono. It means 'for free'.

"Hmph!" Kid lay back down on his cot. Sounds like some kind of Italian food.

"Good night, Kid."

"Yea, in my dreams."

Heyes' cheek dimpled. "That's all you got for now."

Chapter 6

Monday

"Sheriff, I'd like to report a crime!"

"Ma'am?" The twenty five year old lawman squinted in the bright morning sunlight and shifted in his chair outside the jail office door. When he realized who he was talking to, he stood so fast he teetered on one foot. "Uh, the sheriff is out on business, Ma'am. I'm Deputy Hancock." The deputy opened his vest and pointed to the star on his shirt while he stared at the woman like a miner who just struck gold.

Outfitted in a blue silk gown on loan from Whitey's collection, Melanie gave the appearance of royalty. Face painted, jewelry sparkling, her hair coiffed and swept away from her face, a thick hank of mahogany tresses cascaded down her back. The bustled dress accentuated her tiny waist while its low neckline revealed the hint of mesmerizing cleavage. Sara stood in echoed peach beauty, no less stunning, parasol in hand, her jewelry tinkling, silently affirming her sister's words. Like dual phoenix rising from the ashes of his dirty little town, the two women overwhelmed the space outside and seemed to take all the oxygen out of the air. Deputy Hancock coughed and sputtered, "A crime?"

"Why, yes, sheriff," Melanie addressed the man again ignoring that he identified himself as the deputy. "Two men attempted terrible things against us yesterday," Her eyes blazed.

"Uh, yes ma'am…" Hancock realized that these were the girls the sheriff's posse was sent to retrieve. He stepped back and bumped up against the desk. Blushing and switching back and forth on his feet, he gaped at the two gorgeous women unable to speak. He stuttered in an attempted to relieve the dark haired girl's concerns, "I, I believe w-we have the accused in jail already."

"Why, thank you, sheriff." Melanie put on a thick, southern accent and touched her hair, pulling a long jeweled hair pin out releasing a cascade of hair. The deputy's eyes bugged and he cleared his throat. Sara spoke up, "May we identify them?"

The deputy swallowed multiple times knowing the sheriff would want to speak to these women. "Yes, I'll, um," He looked around the room as if for the Sheriff. "I have to um, wait for help, ma'am."

"Excuse me Sheriff, Melanie pouted and leaned in, "Wouldn't it be better if you took care of this now? My sister and I risked our lives coming to town. We came at great difficulty in fear that the wrong men remain free. Heavens! The injustice of it all! You will let us check of course?" She lowered her eyes and looked pained.

The deputy stood there gaping so Melanie backed down a little. "If it would be better, we can come back later to press charges when your help returns. We plan to stay at the hotel, that is, if we have the assurance of your protection, of course."

Stunned speechless at the brazen gaze Melanie poured over the deputy, the announcement they would be staying at the hotel had him search his mind for answers as to how to handle the situation. He asked the girls to wait on the bench that sat against the front wall inside. Melanie paused just inside the doorway to peruse the room and saw two jail cells, one with two men inside. To the right of the cells sat a desk and two extra chairs, as well as a gun cabinet behind the desk.

The vision of Melanie with Sara standing in the doorway caught Curry and Heyes off guard. Both jumped to their feet when the door opened. Melanie moved another step inside the door, looked past the deputy, and exclaimed. "These are not the men that molested us, sheriff! These men helped us get away! You've got the wrong men! You have to let them go!" She smiled at the prisoners, nodded short and quick to both of them and thanked each prisoner for his help. She lowered her lashes at their mumbled responses then looked back at the deputy. "There, that's all I need to say." She announced.

Kid's mouth dropped open when the stunning Sara pushed past Melanie and the deputy to get inside. "Well! At the very least I'm going to thank these gentlemen proper!" Sara fumed. Before the deputy could stop her, Sara walked in swerved around Melanie, skirts swaying and paused in the center of the room where she stopped and thanked both men from a respectable distance. Melanie suddenly took two steps back through the door outside and looking pained, produced a fan with a snap of her wrist fanning herself vigorously. When the deputy moved in Melanie's direction to assist, Sara dipped her hand into a pocket folded in her skirts, pulled out a handgun and a note and quickly passed them to Curry. She swished her skirts again, giggled a few other words of appreciation and moved away from the cell just as the deputy turned back around to check on her.

Melanie recovered in time to lean over and whisper something inaudible to the flustered man. He instinctively leaned toward her and blinked a couple of times trying to understand. Holding the jeweled hair stick, Melanie quickly moved into the deputy jabbing away at his chest. "And don't think we don't know who our friends are, Sheriff! We never forget a kindness! Do you have any idea how much we are worth? My family will hear about all this! I dare say we oughta command a little respect in this town!" By the time she finished, she had backed him up to, then behind the desk where he sat down. Smiling sweetly again Melanie gathered her hair to one side, twisted it around, popped the poker back in it then raised a hand to prevent the deputy from standing up. "Please, Sheriff, my sister and I can see our way. Do not rise on my account unless you're going to release these men!"

"I'm sorry Ma'am; I can't do that until the sheriff arrives." Hancock looked at the ground unable to meet with Melanie's hard stare.

"Well, you better take care of these prisoners until then. My sister and I need to get settled before we talk to anyone. Oh look! I see the hotel is just over yonder! You will stop by later and say hello?" She smiled at him again. "Don't mind us, we can find our way!" The girls turned with a swish, slamming the door behind them.

Whoa! That beautiful lady shore does like you, Will!" Heyes purred once the jail office door shut.

"You're a lucky man!" Kid chimed in. "I'd take her up on that visit!"

"Simmer down, boys." Deputy Hancock stood up, placed his hands on the desk and exhaled. Then he fingered the gun in his holster.

Heyes turned to Curry and said. "I don't know Jones. I'd think long and hard about that pretty lady if I were him, yessiree!"

Hancock stopped and looked at the prisoners, frowning, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, deputy, she's a beauty," Heyes snorted. "…In a deadly sort of way."

"No question about that." Kid answered for the deputy. "Gotta court that type o' woman proper, or don't court her at all. If you know what I mean," He grinned.

"No…I don't…I'm a married man!" Hancock spat.

"Oh sure," Heyes chuckled. "That fancy of a woman surely wasn't thinkin' of adulteratin'."

"Well, I don't know about that…" Kid disagreed. "I saw the way she looked at him. She wants herself a sheriff!"

The deputy checked his holster again before he walked around the desk and ran both hands through his hair. Then he squared his shoulders and reached for the door, "Simmer down, boys."

"Hey, Deputy!" Heyes called again. "How about some chow?"

The deputy paused without looking back, "It's comin'."

Heyes continued. "Oh, and Hancock…If I were you, I shore wouldn't tell her I wasn't the sheriff."

"Ho! Ho!" Kid wailed and smacked his partner on the back.

Hancock sniffed and slammed the door behind him.

Kid Curry turned his back to the door, pulled the gun out of his boot and examined it. Smith and Wesson fully loaded. Heyes opened the folded paper and read it.

 _ _S and J,__  
 _ _Stall for us. There's a horse down a path behind the jailhouse.__  
 _ _-TnT__

"We should have gone right then!" Kid complained.

Heyes stood silent as he pocketed the note.

Kid continued. "If he puts it all together, they're gonna search us, maybe double up the guard."

"Not everyone thinks like we do, Kid." Heyes grinned. "He ain't' thinkin' of a breakout, otherwise, why didn't we already try? Naw, he's thinking about what to do with his wife."

Kid slammed his fist against the bars. "I can't believe they did that! What were they thinkin'?"

Hannibal Heyes tilted his head. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked at the note again and snorted, "TnT?"

Whitey waited behind the building and helped the women mount their horses and relocate the path that had brought them to town. Melanie kept glancing over her shoulder convinced they were being followed. Picking their way carefully through what was less than a trail, the path took the trio through otherwise untraveled rugged brush and outcroppings of rocks that forced them to dismount and lead their horses part way through. They stopped and tied a horse for the boys and Sara mounted with Melanie. It was a wonder they maintained a fresh appearance for the deputy after the difficult trek into town. If they were discovered on this trail, there would be little hope for escape.

An hour or so later, waiting for the deputy to come back inside the jailhouse, Curry and Heyes made the decision to make the break after dark. Otherwise, as things ramped up they would have more men to go through. The sound of voices brought Heyes out of scheming. The jail office door slammed open and a tall, broad shouldered cowboy stepped in, holding his arm out to prevent any followers.

"Gentlemen," The man addressed the prisoners as his boots thudded against the wooden floor. When he stopped a couple feet from the bars, he placed his hands on his hips and nodded. "Ray Tomlinson. I hear you helped my fiancé and her sister escape harm. If that can be proven, and that my women are found safe, you will be free to go."

The tone of his voice, cruel eyes, and curl of Ray's lip suggested otherwise. Heyes ground his molars together at Ray's announcement that Melanie was his fiance, but he proceeded with caution and admitted, "We saved them all right. But we parted with them before we came to town."

"You just left them?" Ray wasn't buying.

"No sir. They ran off. We were chased by gunmen. One of them even shot me." Heyes indicated his wrapped arm. "In all the commotion, they took off. We don't know which way they went."

"Those were my men, looking for my women." The big man set his jaw.

Heyes shrugged. "Maybe they went home?"

Ray took two steps closer, nose at the bars and crossed his arms. "No, they didn't go home. My men followed you the whole way. They told me they shot you." He looked at Curry, "And…you," He pointed, "got away with my women and are hiding them somewhere."

Curry tackled the rage building inside and opened his arms wide, saying. "Can't be hiding any women in here, now can we?"

Ray stood there a minute and exhaled. "Ok, boys, I could press charges for kidnapping, attempted murder for the men you left tied up in the middle of nowhere, but I think I'll wait you out. If we find my women safe and can confirm you have not pissed on me, we'll drop the charges. Otherwise, you better get used to the food."

Heyes spoke up. "We can clear this all up if we could wire our friend, Sheriff Lom Trevors."

Ray stared at him before speaking. "If I approve of the wire, you can send it."

Two men entered the jail office at Ray's beckoning. Hands tied, Heyes was escorted by a deputy, Ray and his men to the telegraph station where he dictated the note. He sent it to Bryan, a small nearby town where Lom often stayed. After a nod from Ray, the wire was sent. Ten minutes later the deputy opened the jail for Heyes, who walked back in, eyes lowered. Curry looked anxious but kept his place taking the cue that it wasn't the time. Closing the cell and exiting the office, Ray and his men gathered outside.

"We gotta get out of here; Ray's going to hunt the girls down!" Curry blurted the second the door shut.

"Easy, Kid. Ray has at least a dozen men ready to gun us down if we try anything right now. We gotta wait. At least we know the girls are safe. Ray can search forever and still miss 'em."

"Knowing Melanie, if we don't show up, she'll be back!"

Heyes gritted his teeth and his mouth twisted. He looked at the ground and mumbled, "We better hope she doesn't, Kid."

Chapter 7

Tuesday

Melanie paced the floor. She and Sara had been down in the hidden passage all morning while Whitey fielded questions and allowed a search of the house by Ray's men who'd shown up with the sheriff of Green River. The girls were exhausted having waited up all night for Curry and Heyes to arrive. Sara was in a panic.

"What is going on up there?" Sara raised an arm over her head and let it fall against her thigh with a smack.

"Shh, Sara, we'll find out soon. We just got to be patient. I think they are here because the boys escaped. That's good news!"

Sara shrugged and turned the flame down in the lantern to insure they'd have fuel for a while. "I don't know. But I sure don't want to live my life hiding from Ray down here not knowing if Thaddeus is ok."

"Whitey will come for us when he can; maybe he'll have some news.

An hour passed before Whitey opened the secret door. He looked somber as he announced, "All clear, for now. Ray and his men left. Our boys are still in jail, it seems."

"What?" The girls said in unison.

"Yes. Apparently Ray Tomlinson is all but running Green River."

Melanie asked, "He came to this house? What did he say?"

"He was here with the sheriff. He said they were looking for two missing women and wanted to search inside since they'd already searched the entire valley and barn. I had to let them in."

"So they're gone?"

"For now; they seemed satisfied when there was no evidence of your whereabouts. I sure don't trust your uncle. He's a very determined man. He isn't going to let his men go to jail if he can help it. I get a sense he'd pull a gun on a man just for looking at him wrong."

Sara expelled a breath. "Ray would kill any man for anything. That's a fact."

Whitey looked at Melanie. "Ray said you were his fiancé. Is that right?"

"Ha!" Melanie shot out of her chair, "Over my dead body!"

Sara blinked several times before she added, "A shot-gun wedding to your niece is illegal!"

Melanie stepped over to the window to view the front yard from a narrow opening between the edge of the drapery and the wall. "There are two riders still up on the ridge." She announced. Adjusting the curtain carefully, she walked back to her chair and expelled a long breath. Melanie looked at her sister and sighed, "If we were only dealing with the law, we might stand a chance of getting some justice. I'm afraid everything just changed."

Kid Curry spent the afternoon pacing the jail cell. "What did you say to Lom, again?" He asked Heyes for the third time.

"Easy Kid," Heyes responded. "I let him know it was urgent. He'll come."

"We shoulda busted out already!" Curry complained.

"They can't hold us anyway." Heyes told him. "They got nothing on us. We'll talk to the sheriff as soon as he gets here."

"Wrong!" Curry pointed at his partner, his voice showing anger and frustration. "That Ray guy snaps his fingers and everyone jumps, including the sheriff. We'll never get out if he has anything to say about it."

"Maybe," Heyes stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "We'll talk to the sheriff. If you're right, when it's dark, we'll give it a go."

"Yea!?" Kid sounded brighter.

Later that afternoon, after the deputy had come and gone a few times, Sheriff Carter walked in just before dusk and dropped a rifle on the desk. He turned to the gun cabinet and opened the door. He was a stocky man with thick brown hair maybe ten years older than his deputy. Heyes got a sense he wasn't happy about something.

"Sheriff Carter," The man introduced himself. "You've had your food, let's put it to rest, boys."

"On what charge are you holding us, sheriff?" Curry blurted. "Can we go, now?"

"You're being held for kidnapping. Until those girls are found, you stay put."

"And then what?" Curry pushed. "If Ray gets to them first, then who is going to protect them?"

The sheriff looked at Curry and raised his brow. "I'm afraid that's their problem. Ray runs the Double T Ranch and has authority over them girls."

"Excuse me, Sheriff, but aren't the sisters owners of the ranch?"

Sheriff Carter walked over to the cell, his face a stern warning. "Ray runs that family and that ranch. So, I wouldn't worry about those girls or who owns their ranch if I were you."

"We want to report a crime, sheriff." Heyes announced.

"And what is that?" Carter asked.

Heyes told him, "Two of Ray Tomlinson's men tried to molest those girls and we stopped them. You got the wrong men! After we bound and gagged those guys, they brought more men and chased us halfway across the territory firing guns. Shot me along the way."

"Well, that's interesting mister, but until we find the girls, and until they testify on your behalf, you are staying put."

"Why aren't Ray and his men also in jail?" Curry countered.

"Ray left with his men to go find the girls. My men are also looking."

"We might be able to find them if you let us out, Sheriff."

"Sorry boys, I can't do that. But if you tell us where the girls are, it will go a lot easier on you."

Heyes heard enough and signaled Curry with the lift of his chin. Curry took the cue, pulled the gun out of his boot and smiled big, "Let's make it really easy, sheriff."

Sheriff Carter's eyes bugged at the loaded revolver pointed at his face. "H-hold on there…" His boots scraped the wooden floor as he shuffled back away from the gun.

"Move it!" Curry exuded anger to back his warning. "Get those keys or I'll lay you down."

The Sheriff slumped a little and held his hands up higher.

"The keys!" Heyes snapped. He wiggled his fingers for Sever to approach.

"Nice and easy," Curry purred.

Hands secured his hands behind his back and the sheriff sat chewing on a bandanna as Curry tied the knot against the base of his neck. "No hard feelin's, now, we'll be back to press charges against those men," Curry promised as he exited the cell. The sheriff grunted against his gag. Heyes added, "Consider this a temporary leave of absence, sheriff. Figure you let us out just like we requested; so we can find the girls. And, since we were falsely accused," He slapped the man on the back and grinned, "Maybe we won't press charges against you!"

Curry pulled the iron bars shut, locked the cell with the key then tossed the ring on the desk.

"Be back soon," Heyes touched his hat. The hum of patrons rang through the streets from down at the saloon. Seeing no one on the street, they scurried around the back of the building. Curry and Heyes found an opening in the bushes where branches were broken and they started down what appeared to be a recently traveled new trail. The horse they hoped would be there soon came into view and neighed as they approached. The gelding was tied fast, stomping a hoof, clearly hungry from waiting.

Time dragged on as Curry and Heyes weaved in and out of heavy brush and dodged rocks and they were forced to travel even more slowly in the waning light. Their horse tossed his head and reached out to every bush pulling off bites of food. Curry steered and Heyes held on from behind. About two hundred yards from Whitey's house, they abandoned the horse in a field of grass and took off on foot. While inching their way in, they searched the landscape for any movement.

"That was easy." Kid crowed as they knocked on the back door.

Whitey opened the door, his face ashen. "I'm sorry boys, the girls left!"

Curry shut the door and quickly set the lock, "What the…!"

"A friend of mine stopped by to tell us that Ray went to see you in jail. He said Ray was going to drop the charges and the law would let you walk if the girls were found safe. When they heard Ray would let you both go free when they were found, they made their decision. I tried to talk them out of it, but they said they had to do it to prevent you from getting hurt or killed. They took their two horses out and it appears they ran into Ray's men going east." Whitey indicated the direction with his hand.

"Damn it!" Curry slammed his fist in his hand. Heyes didn't respond but his lips compressed and his jaw flexed in and out.

"What are we waiting for?" Curry checked the gun again and flipped it once. Checking to make sure the guards were gone, after thanking Whitey again, Curry and Heyes rode at full gallop to the Tomlinson Ranch eating each other's dust.

"I will not marry my own uncle." Melanie looked off, arms folded.

"I disagree, Miss Melanie." Ray lifted a shoulder. "You girls left the ranch, ran off with dangerous ruffians and abandoned an expensive wagon with who knows what all inside it. You both caused a lot of scandal around here." He pulled a cigar out of a box on a side table and lit the end. "While you were out on your little adventure, we've been working hard to keep this ranch running. I've taken the liberty of selling cows, set things in motion for the purchase of some quality bulls and bred back the heifers, no thanks to you two."

Sara snorted. "This is our ranch! You and your men have taken over and…and been pawing us ever since Daddy died. You? Ha! No one can stand you. And you're not marrying my sister!"

"On the contrary," Ray said. "Everything is set. The wedding will be next week. The guests are looking forward to it. We will be married."

Sara snorted and walked out of the room.

Melanie shook her head. None of this added up. How could Ray marry his own niece? He knew she hated him and would certainly complain to authorities about their relationship. For months the girls watched him take over and they fought him the whole way. A chill ran up her spine. If she didn't cooperate, he'd no doubt do something worse to convince her otherwise. He was already making all the decisions; controlled all the money and the men. Now Ray wanted to marry her? Obviously he wanted to secure the ranch against further rebellion, but hadn't he practically already done that? Sara mentioned a shotgun wedding. Of that Melanie had no doubt. But which of them would be holding the gun?

Suddenly, Melanie thought of something. If Ray thought she would willingly marry him, at least for the time being, she and Sara might have greater freedom to make a permanent escape. Melanie made a decision. She couldn't be too nice. Not yet. But she couldn't continue storming around, either. She had a plan.

"Why are you doing this?" Melanie asked in a defeated, broken whisper.

"Because it's the right thing to do," Ray answered simply.

"I can't imagine marrying my own uncle, a man more than twice my age." She said, as if to herself.

Ray stood up and walked over to her and picked up a lock of her hair. "You're well above the age for marriage at twenty one. As is your sister at twenty. As far as our relationship, we both know I'm not your uncle, love. I only pretended that to protect you." He took a hit of his cigar and blew out a white stream. "Your uncle died ten years ago in a gunfight. You father was convinced I was him. You grew into such a beautiful woman; I waited for you to turn to me, for the time to be right. Now you see. This is something we should have done long ago. You and Sara can't run this ranch alone. You need me, and should think about making the arrangements. You will gain status here and with the expansion I've planned, you're going to be a very wealthy woman. Either you, or your sister." He shrugged. "I'll leave the particulars of that to you, if you prefer."

Melanie looked him straight in the eye. The threat of his words to take Sara if she didn't cooperate stunned her. The shock of his admission and his plans for her sent her brain into a whirlwind. There would be nothing she could do to stop him. She looked at her hands calmly folded in her lap then gazed out into the living room, her living room; Sofa, chairs, rugs curtains, all hers, all Sara's. She took a slow, deep breath and glanced at Ray out of the corner of her eye. There was no threat coming from him right now. Did he really believe she wouldn't fight him on this? That threatening Sara would be the difference in her willingly marrying him?

Ray shifted and lifted his cigar to his lips. The corners of his mouth lifted and he tipped his head to see how she was taking this. She nodded as though she understood.

Was that hope pouring out of him? Oh yes, this was going to be interesting.

Melanie glanced over at the doorway wondering if Sara was watching this. She had to move very slowly but desperately wanted to talk to her sister! She took a resigned breath and attempted to look defeated, then baited Ray with a show of sibling rivalry rather than reveal her fierce need to protect her sister. She answered carefully, "It's all too much I'm afraid. I do want to remain the mistress of the ranch of course… Right now, I'm really exhausted." She glanced at Ray from under her lashes. Standing up, devoid of rebellion, she gave him a nod and said, "Please excuse me."

Ray took a step back and tipped his head to gauge her demeanor. Visibly more confident, he dropped his shoulders and seemed to relax. She fought the urge to stiffen and walked past him with a nod. "Good night, Ray." She murmured.

Melanie found her sister sitting in an old chair in their bedroom. She told Sara everything Ray had said. When Sara recovered she scoffed at Melanie. "He's lying so he take the ranch!"

"Yes, but not about everything. He's not our uncle. We were only kids when he showed up, so I had no reason to really doubt he was kin until now. I must admit, I have wondered about him. He and Pa were so different. I know he's telling the truth about that…he just waited until Pa died before admitting it to us. He was waiting until I quit fighting him. I've got to let him think I'm interested in marrying him. I have no doubt he'll carry out his threat against you if we don't play along."

"Are you out of your mind?" Sara whispered. "You can't pretend for one minute to go along with this. What if he tries to kiss you or something? Ew!"

Melanie shook her head and put a hand on her sister's shoulder, "I know, Sara. It's a disgusting thought. But if I can get him to quit worrying about me by going along with this, I'll be a lot freer to get this all straightened out. If we fight him, he'll lock us down tighter than we already are or worse. We have to find Joshua and Thaddeus after we make our escape."

Sara made an 'oh sure' face at the last comment her fingers lacing and unlacing and exclaimed, "There's no time! He said the wedding was next week! You think he's not going to watch us like a hawk? Ray is not going to trust you that quickly. We've been at war with him way too long for him to fall for that!"

"Look, I realized something in there. Ray is in love with me. I wondered about it before, but because I thought he was our uncle, I didn't let it sink in. Now I'm certain it's true. Mostly, it's about the ranch, I realize that. But I think he grew angrier and meaner because I've been thwarting all his advances, such as they were." She paused. "I've got to make this work for us. Besides, if I don't play along, I'm afraid everything could get real bad real fast. If I can show him I'm not opposed, maybe even a little hopeful, I may get him to think we don't want to escape again. Maybe ask for certain kind of flowers, lengthen the guest list, you know, the kind of stuff that makes it look like I'm falling for his offer. Let's think this through."

Sara turned away and crawled into her bed. "I can't even think anymore. I miss Thaddeus."

"I know." Melanie looked off. "In a way, I hope they don't come looking for us. I can't stomach the thought of what will happen when they meet up with Ray. We've got to get out of here soon, this time on horseback. Maybe we can find another Sheriff and tell him what's going on."

Curry and Heyes rode at full gallop. Heyes slapped his horse's flanks with his reins to keep up with Curry. Staying on the Overland Trail, they eventually rode past the girls' wagon still sitting off the road, spurring their horses on. They only slowed their animals about a half mile from Tomlinson ranch and once they saw a tall wooden ranch sign that read, "Double T Ranch", they doubled back and took a trail into the hills.

Once in place, looking down on the compound, Curry spoke first. "Ok, there it is. All we gotta do is figure out where everyone is down there."

"We gotta hide the horses first." Heyes looked around for a safe place. Low hills covered in dry brush sat on the west side of the compound. The valley stretched to the right as far as they could see. A lone hill stood to the north.

After tying their horses securely, they moved closer to the house. Curry stood next to his partner and gazed at the compound below. "Heyes…" He swallowed nervously. "I've been wondering. If we steal these girls away, they'll lose all this." His arm swept the scope of the huge ranch nestled in the valley below.

"I was thinkin' the same thing back at Whitey's, Kid. But, I'm not here to steal them away. I'm here to give them a chance to escape Ray. And testify that we aren't guilty. That's all."

Curry sat on that for a moment. Finally he asked, "Would you marry her, Heyes?"

He put the glass to his eye. "Don't go jumpin' the gun, Kid."

Curry squatted on his haunches and set his elbows on his knees. A rifle sat on the ground in front of him, a pistol at his side. Heyes was still studying the house so he waited for a while before he said, "Well, Heyes, I guess you were right."

"About what?"

"About me being a settlin' man," Curry stood up to emphasize his point. "I don't even have to think about it. I'd marry Sara tomorrow."

Heyes removed the glass. He was about to make some kind of remark but the look on Curry's face surprised him. It was unlike anything he'd seen before. He put the glass back up and studied the scene again. He didn't see a thing, though. Kid's words and demeanor blindsided him. Hannibal Heyes thought about how much life had changed in the past few days and how nothing would ever be the same. Either way, he had something to lose.

"Double wedding?" He grinned behind the glass.

Curry's head snapped his direction. "I figured you'd try to talk me out of marrying Sara."

"Now, why would you go thinkin' that?" Heyes removed the glass and put his fist on his hip.

"Because; you were the one who said you were the movin' kind of man. And I was the settlin' kind. You also refuse to say that you'll marry Melanie. You know, even if you said yes, I actually think you'd chicken out."

Heyes stuffed the glass into his coat pocket and sat down, his back against a tree, legs crossed and looked up at Curry who stood there with his hands on his hips. "Kid, for all its worth, I do want Melanie. I just don't want to get ahead of myself here. If I don't get this right, she's going to be forced to marry an incredibly dangerous man. Do you really think I'm going to let that happen?"

"No, I know you won't let that happen. I'm just wondering if you'll let it happen to you."

Heyes let his air out with a long pshh before he spoke. "Well, I gotta admit, Kid. It does scare me a little. Ain't neither of us ever done anything like that before."

Curry walked over and sat down, pulled his hat down over his eyes and gathered the wool trimmed coat up to his face. Clouds gathered and the temperature dropped markedly. It was dark when they arrived and was now closing in on midnight.

The buildings in the scene below consisted of the main house with stables, a feed shed and bunkhouses scattered over the property. The main home faced south and sat close to the boys' position on the west end of the compound with a drive up to the front portico that swung wide to meet the door. Heyes figured the bedrooms were on the north and east sides, while the living areas faced out to the main road.

Heyes pointed below and said, "Ok, the stables are no concern way over there. We got two bunkhouses; the one, here, and that one to the east; there's the feed shed, and some kind of out building on our side, which is some kind of storage building."

"What's your point?" Curry's eyes were closed, his hat low.

"I figure that means we gotta go through the front door."

"What?" Curry jumped up.

"That's better. I was wondering if you were paying attention." Heyes grinned.

"Yea, well, from what I saw I think we gotta enter from our side."

"Yep, that also includes the front door. But we gotta figure out if that room in the back on this side is Ray's or the girls'. I think it's time to get a little closer."

They'd watched long enough to figure there were only three men in the south bunkhouse. The north building remained empty. After seven o'clock the light in the barn went out and all workers were accounted for. There was no sign of the girls or Ray, but they had lanterns glowing in the main room up front and one in a room on the left toward the back of the house. Curry and Heyes moved slowly down the hill and climbed a low fence before settling into some bushes.

"Look! A rider!" Heyes pointed to a lone rider galloping up the ranch drive.

Lom Trevors tucked his hands in his coat pockets and walked back to his horse. There was no one at the Green River jail house. He stopped to reread the note Curry and Heyes sent.

 _ _Lom,__  
 _ _Jailed in Green River. Not guilty. Need help now.__  
 _ _Smith and Jones__

He stuffed the note back in his pocket and mounted his horse. Perhaps someone at the saloon knew what was going on.

It was a lively night crowd for a weekday and the tables were filled. Music, voices and the sound of money clinking on tables filled the air. Two saloon girls talking with the bar tender caught Lom's attention. There was something about the way they were all leaning in to each other, as if they had some tasty gossip going.

Lom moved through tables and stood at the bar far away enough to keep from intruding and rested an elbow on the bar. The bartender acknowledged him, "What'll you have, sir?"

"Beer," Lom tossed a coin on the counter and looked away hoping the bar tender and ladies would resume their conversation.

His instincts were right on. Before he took the first drink he heard one gal say "Smith…and Jones." Lom placed a boot on the runner, sipped his beer and waited. "Yea," The other gal answered. "Handsome fellas; threw 'em right in jail; Said they kidnapped Ray's fiancé." The bar tender said something about the Tomlinsons, a name Lom was familiar with. Ray Tomlinson lived a few hours ride from there. Lom loved this territory and knew it well. He was equally sorry of what he knew about Tomlinson.

"Tomlinson's daughter can't marry Ray, that's her uncle!" One gal giggled.

"Ray ain't true family. Came pokin' around some years ago. Had ol' Tom thinkin he was his long lost brother." The bartender offered.

"Well it's going to be hell when Ray finds out those two men busted jail cuz he told Johnny they tried to kill two of his men."

Lom heard enough. He took a last deep swig and walked out.  
Melanie spread the curtains at her bedroom window. She threw open the sash and the night breeze lifted her curtains. "What are you doing? It's cold!" Sara scolded her sister. "Close that!"

"Put a coat on, Sara. We've got to be ready in case Ray leaves, or at least after he goes to sleep." She grinned at her sister knowingly.

"If Ray sees that open, or that we have coats on, he'll think we're trying to escape."

"Ok, I'll leave it open just a little." Melanie pulled the window down a few inches and closed the curtain half way.

"Pull it closed more than that."

Sara put the light out and after another glance out the window, Melanie climbed into bed. She slept in riding breeches and a night gown with shirt on underneath, just in case and had Sara to do the same.

"I saw her." Heyes grinned looking in the direction Kid was pointing. They weren't far from the window and with the rider coming up the drive, changed their minds about making contact with the girls. Curry was grateful at least one of the girls made a showing but wasn't happy he didn't see Sara. At least they could be sure the girls were here. They also knew which room was theirs and it was the side where they called it.

Heyes turned the glasses on the rider again and watched as he approached the door. "Looks like Ray will be getting some bad news."

"Yep".

"I bet that light in their room goes on again." Heyes said.

"Yep."

Sure enough, once the rider reached the house, Ray opened the door. A minute later, he went back inside and the light in the girl's room went on. Curry and Heyes were less than fifty yards out but still inside the fence line. The window was open enough for him to see a corner of a chest of drawers in the room. They waited quietly and tried to listen for voices.

Heyes put the glass up to his face again studying the window. A few minutes later the rider stepped back outside and mounted his horse. Ray again stood at the door again gazing out. Curry tapped Heyes and pointed. "Look! More riders!"

"I see 'em. We gotta get back to the horses." Heyes whispered and  
Curry nodded.

The riders met up and glancing around they spread out to check the immediate area. Heyes and Curry melted into the bushes and held their breath. They could no longer see but could hear horses trotting about and snorting. "Over here", someone called from the stables.

"Now," Heyes whispered.

Curry and Heyes ran back to the fence and jumped outside the property just as Ray and the riders took off the other direction toward the stables. Within a few minutes, all the men gathered at the house again having come up with nothing. Melanie appeared at the door in a night gown.

A few sprinkles came down as Heyes and Curry returned to their horses, shoving the rifles Whitey provided them back into the scabbards. Heyes leaned on his horse with one arm and swept his hair out of his face. "It is gonna be a long night, Kid."

From their positions with the horses on the other side of the ridge, they could no longer see the compound. This safer position closer to the road enabled them to escape. The moon had since disappeared behind clouds and a heavier rain started to fall.

"We gotta set down somewhere dry." Curry urged.

"My guess is they are going to troll this place thoroughly tomorrow and put more guards out. Tonight is the night." Heyes warned him.

"I know." He said.

"Look!" Another rider appeared, running full speed toward the road that led to the house. Two minutes behind him were three more riders.

"I guess we're having ourselves a little party." Heyes grinned.

"What are we gonna do?" Curry shifted his rifle to the other hand

"I don't know, but I think we need to move to the north hill when we can. They won't expect we made it past them at the drive. They think they got it covered."

"We need backup. We can't do this now. There's too many." Curry looked at Heyes like he was crazy.

"Backup? What backup?" Heyes' voice cracked.

"We'll get Wheat and Kyle and the gang. Devil's Hole can't be more than three or four miles from here."

"Even if we could get six or eight of them to show, which I doubt, we're all just walking into a gunfight. Someone is going to get killed."

"We don't have to confront anybody!" Curry explained. "We'll use them as decoys and move in when the gang leads them away."

"That's still risky. There's no guarantee all the men will follow them. And we can't be sure someone won't get shot. We gotta come up with something better."

"Well, we can't go in alone. It's suicide." Curry looked out at the road.

Heyes lifted his glasses to his eyes again. "I'm going to have to agree with you, tonight, Kid. Look!"

Another wave of riders galloped along the road to meet up with the drive. A brief meeting at the gate ensued and several riders moved toward the house while two of them waited at the gate.

"What is going on?" Kid asked, exasperated. "This is ridiculous!"

"I think we gotta go back up so we can watch the house." His partner reasoned.

"Heyes, have you lost your mind?" Curry looked at his friend with all the scorn he could muster.

"We've got to get to a place where we can see what's happening." Heyes told him.

Suddenly, a shot rang out. Another one hit something and the bullet ricocheted. Heyes and Curry left the horses again and moved back over the ridge to see the house. Riders scrambled in every direction and a few dismounted to take cover. "Tell 'em to quit shootin'!" Someone called to the Sheriff.

"Hold your fire!" A man stood up from behind the storage building and held something up in the air. "This is Sheriff Carter; we've got the area covered. Hold your fire!"

Ray was standing just behind the front door, shot gun in hand. "Hold your fire!" He commanded his men.

Tense minutes passed before Carter inched his way out from behind the storage building, his long coat sprinkled in rain. "I need to talk to Ray Tomlinson."

Curry and Heyes watched as Ray and Sheriff Carter met under the front portico of the house. The sheriff called for his men and six of them appeared out of the shadows and approached the house. A minute later Ray called his men and five showed up, two coming from the bunk house and two from the shadows. Two more of what had to be Ray's men stood at the end of the drive.  
The gathering was brief and Ray ushered the key people inside.

"That was the sheriff!" Kid blurted.

"Yep," Heyes responded. "I'm sure he's looking not only for us, but whoever passed us that gun."

Curry shook his head. "He's going to arrest the girls!"

"Hang on, there's another rider."

When another rider rode up to the house and dismounted, Kid blurted again. "That's Lom!"

Heyes put his hand on his partner's shoulder. "Hold on, Kid. Let's see what happens."

Lom retrieved his rifle from the scabbard on his saddle and approached the door. Ray appeared at the door again. A minute later, they both entered the house.

"This situation is too hot to walk into," Heyes shook his head.

Fifteen minutes passed and the door remained open while one man stood watching. Carter came to the door and walked out, his men in tow. Melanie and Sara also came out dressed in riding clothes, Ray just behind them. Sever's men, Lom, the girls, Ray and two men stood at the door while another man was sent to the barn. When he came out with several horses

Heyes said, "Ok, we have to get out of here."

"Are they under arrest, or not?" Curry asked.

"I think we're the random element, Kid." Heyes offered. "But it looks like they are all going in for questioning, at least. With the girls dressed, and horses getting saddled, it's obvious they aren't going to wait until tomorrow. We need to get back to town and be waiting for them. We'll decide what to do when we get there."

"Let's go!" Curry said.

Curry and Heyes shot down the face of the hill cutting west across a ridge running full gallop. The clouds parted enough to allow a nearly full moon to show the way. The trail they took eased back to the main road about a half hour later. Even at a full gallop they had a long ride ahead and continued at high speed for a while before they slowed to an easy canter. About halfway there, Heyes pulled his horse to a trot and said, "I think we have time to stop at Whitey's. Maybe he has some information for us."

Curry nodded and they picked up the pace.

Northeast of Whitey's place, Curry and Heyes slowed their horses and stopped to check for guards on the west hill with his glass. It was well after four o'clock in the morning and remained dark but they could see one horseman stood on the brow of the hill across from the house to the west. They cut in on the east side using the house as cover and brought their horses around back, tying them off at the barn and knocking on the back door. The dogs barked once and after several minutes Whitey showed up and ushered them in, exclaiming, "Boys! It's so good to see you! I didn't think you were going to make it back!"

"Sheriff Carter showed up at the ranch along with more of Ray's men." Curry explained. "He's is bringing the whole lot of them, girls included, back to town!"

"Now?" Whitey's brow knit. "That's unusual. And Ray is cooperating? Come, we'll talk in the passage so I can light a lantern. There's a rider across the way as usual."

"We saw him and cut in early and came around the back."

Whitey chuckled. "They are sure something is up, here, but can't figure it out." Then in more serious tone he said, "The girls were afraid all this commotion would bring the law down on me. They figured they would be able to get away again and lessen the focus on this house."

"Only three people came to see us in jail, besides the Sheriff and the deputy. And someone helped us escape. It's Ray or it's the girls." Curry said. "The sheriff isn't stupid."

"They thought about it, believe me. I told them not to leave, but they were convinced it had to be done. They were also convinced that if the sheriff found out they gave you the gun, they did so because they were afraid for their lives but realized that the only way to fix everything was to go back home."

Heyes shook his head. "We're going back into town and turn ourselves in. Our friend Lom showed up at the ranch. He will work with the sheriff to get this resolved."

When Whitey disapproved, Heyes told him, "This is definitely getting worse and none of us are guilty of anything except self-preservation."

"I did find one thing!" Whitey brightened. "My friend from town has been back to keep me updated. Ray isn't the girls' uncle. At least some people know, but the whole town is afraid of Ray. A few know you boys are not guilty. Still, no one is going to speak up for fear of Ray, of course."

Heyes took that in for a minute just as Kid gave him an excited nudge. Heyes looked thoughtful and told Curry, "That might work against us if Ray forces Melanie into marrying him. It's not like she would have any recourse at that point. The marriage would be valid."

"Why would she go along with that?" Curry scoffed.

"She might agree to it in order to get out of trouble for breaking us out of jail, or to help us get out of town, or even if the Sheriff goes after Whitey."

Curry blinked several times, nothing to say.

Heyes patted his friend's back and said, "C'mon Kid…We gotta go back to jail."

Curry looked back at his partner and shook his head. "You know Heyes…you haven't said anything that stupid for at least a couple of days."

Curry and Heyes thanked Whitey and slipped out the barn on horseback and headed out the back road into town. They wasted no time knowing the group that followed would not ride as fast as they had but wanting to arrive first, just the same. Tying their horses on the path behind the jail, they made themselves comfortable on the wooden porch. Less than thirty minutes went by before the riders showed up.

"Howdy sheriff!" Heyes called out cheerfully.

Curry stood, hand on his Smith and Wesson. Heyes left his gun back at their horse in case weapons were confiscated, which he figured was likely.

Sheriff Carter dismounted and said. "Arms up! Throw down your guns! You're under arrest!"

"I've got this, Carter!" Lom interrupted. He walked up to Kid and requested his gun. "What about their guns?" Curry asked.

"Your gun, Jones," Lom warned, giving Curry a hard look and a short nod. Curry hesitated but handed his weapon to Lom. Heyes patted his sides showing he was unarmed. At Carter' signal men rushed Curry and Heyes wrenching their arms behind their backs. Ray, the two molesters, flanked by two armed deputies, Curry, Heyes, and the girls were tied and ushered inside the jail office. A third deputy, the posse and two more of Ray's men remained outside. A woman was retrieved for the girls and everyone inside was quickly searched again and separated by gender into the cells. Carter thanked the attending woman and dismissed her. Lom recognized her as the woman from the bar.

Melanie spoke first pointing to Ray's men. "As I told you at the ranch, those men attempted to rape my sister and me!"

"Yes, ma'am," The Sheriff went to the gun cabinet and removed a rifle, setting it on his desk. "Unfortunately, providing a weapon to break these men out of jail is a serious offence. We will get a judge out here first thing. In the meantime, you will just have to wait to explain it to him."

Melanie raised her voice, anger boiling over at the sherriff's indifference to her. "I'm hauled out of my bed halfway across Wyoming by you to take me to jail then I'm sure going to explain it to you! Smith and Jones did everything they could to help us. You have no right to hold them!" She waved an arm at Ray and his men, "These men are guilty of doing physical harm to my sister and me!"

Carter raised his brow, but hardened against the woman speaking to him that way. He took a step toward her and sneered, "You're under arrest lady! I'm the sheriff here and we're going to do it my way! I decide based on the law, not on some ranting woman."

Lom spoke up. "We should take statements from each one individually before the judge arrives."

"Right, sheriff; we have time," Carter answered.

"I'd like to talk to Smith, first." Lom continued.

Carter waved a deputy over and Heyes was extracted from the cell holding all the men. Two deputies, including Hancock remained on guard inside as Lom, Carter and a bound Heyes walked outside.

Heyes acknowledged his friend with a nod while he avoided the angry look on Carter' face. Lom asked him, "What happened?"

"Jones and I came across a robbery and rape attempt out on the Overland trail west of Baxter. The girls in there," Heyes indicated the jail, "were in a wagon attempting to escape from dangerous men employed at their ranch. We heard shots and saw the men enter their wagon. We caught them trying to molest the girls so I took the jackasses out and tied them up and chased their horses down the road so the girls had a chance to get away. After that, Jones and I escorted the girls for protection."

"Who gave you the gun to get out of jail?" Carter asked.

"Sheriff, I think we know all that was necessary being that we were wrongfully accused and the girls' lives were in danger." Heyes answered.

Carter growled, "Tying me up and breaking jail won't be without consequences, Mr. Smith. Answer the question!"

"I told you we'd return, sheriff. It wasn't personal. We had to do it." Heyes nodded at Carter, "because we had to find the girls."

"So you admit they brought you a gun."

Heyes shrugged.

"Where were you hiding?" The sheriff asked.

"All over the place," Heyes lifted a shoulder. "There were a lot of dangerous men looking for us so we moved around a lot." He paused and added, "The girls ran away from the ranch because Ray and his men were hurting them. Ray is even going to try to force the older sister to marry him."

Lom shook his head, saying he was done. "I'd like to talk to the other one before we get to the girls."

Carter nodded but gave Heyes a warning. "You aren't going to get away with it."

Heyes gave him a hard look. The man's nose twitched in his effort to dismiss the potency of Heyes' gaze but he dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Lom shook his head and Heyes was exchanged for Curry and the questioning continued.

"We hid out there." Curry waved with a wide sweep of his hand, diffusing the tense exchange with a no worries grin. "Those girls didn't do anything they didn't have to, to stay alive."  
"So, which one passed you the gun?" Carter asked him.

Curry wasn't budging. "Like I said Sheriff, everyone did what they had to in order to protect themselves."

Carter stepped toward Curry and warned, "You will answer the judge, tomorrow Mr. Jones, even if you won't answer me. But since you won't answer me, I'm going to see to it that you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

After Curry corroborated Heyes' story about the encounter at the wagon, Lom sighed. "Ok Jones. We're done with you."

Sheriff Carter asked no more questions but narrowed his eyes at Curry and nodded toward the jail. "I'm not letting you two off, Jones."

Curry looked at the sheriff and shrugged. "I told you we would be back, sheriff. We were waiting for you. That has to account for something."

Carter stared at Curry and set his jaw. They returned Kid to the cell, and brought out Melanie.

Melanie's story mirrored the two other defendants' but she admitted she was at fault for passing the gun to the men. When they got to Sara, she took the blame saying she gave the gun to Curry.

The two sheriffs discussed the testimony given to that point before bringing out Ray Tomlinson. Lom was surprised to find two different impressions emerged from what everyone said thus far. Lom realized Carter remained sore about Smith and Jones' escape.

"I have no knowledge of my men accosting the girls." Ray told the sheriffs. "The girls' father asked me to run the ranch long before he died and he wanted me to take care of them upon his death. Those men have worked on the ranch for at least a year without incident. The girls are fickle and without discipline. They just abandoned the ranch; left without my knowledge or consent and put themselves in danger. I'm only here to clear my name and get those girls back where they belong."

"You sent your men out to find the girls?"

"Of course and I was out looking another direction. I certainly didn't tell anyone to hurt the girls. We were expecting to hear something. Why would they harm the girls knowing I was nearby ready to meet up with them? My men said nothing happened. I believe them! You certainly cannot trust young girls. They change their minds all the time. They even returned to me when they realized they were wrong. It's a family matter, nothing more. I don't know why you are holding me, sheriff." Ray gave Carter a steady gaze. The sheriff responded."We will sort everything out; tell it to the judge, Ray."

Lom noted the difference in Carter's demeanor with Ray as opposed to Smith and Jones. He could tell that the sheriff had already made up his mind and that if it were up to him, Ray would go free today, but as far as Carter was concerned, Smith and Jones could rot in jail.

Chapter 8  
Wednesday

Dawn broke as the two men accused of attempted rape were called out one by one. The first one, Bill, denied coming across the girls at all. He didn't see them or know about any molestation until Smith and Jones wound up in jail. He and his partner were sent by Ray to get the girls, but they split up. If his partner did anything, he didn't know about it. If there were other men, he didn't know who it was. In his opinion, it was Smith and Jones.  
Nash's version was entirely different. He told them he was sent to get the girls back for Ray. The girls were happy to see them and asked for help. When Smith and Jones climbed in the wagon, they didn't realize the girls had invited Bill and Nash in, but being stupid women, they saw some opportunity and claimed they were molested.

Inside the jail during the other interviews, Heyes put a finger to his lips indicating to the girls not to speak to the other prisoners. They sat quietly at the far corner of their cell and stared off into space ignoring anyone who spoke to them. Heyes and Curry stood on one side of the cell while Ray and company either sat on the cot or stood at the bars, waiting. A deputy stood nearby, casually holding a shot gun just outside the cell while the other sat behind the desk with a rifle on it.

Content with their interviews, Lom and Carter entered the building and Carter sat down at the desk. He pulled out some paper and started to write while Lom went and sat on the front bench where he sat waiting for the next two hours.

A courier finally showed and announced that the judge they summoned had made it in from Wilkins, a neighboring town. Because of his tight schedule and since he was already on his way to Laramie, he stopped in town hoping to clear up the problem by the time he left.

The hearing took place in a lobby at the hotel since Green River courtroom had been converted to a storage building. Many residents moved away when hardship hit the area a few years back and the town had only recently seen growth. The defendants were called in separately again and quickly told their stories to the judge to determine if a trial would be held. After the interviews, Lom had a private talk with the judge.

"Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones are well known to me, Your Honor. They are upstanding citizens. I have no reason to believe either of them needs to be detained under the circumstances. Clearly, the girls acted in fear and remain in danger. The men were only trying to help them and returning after the breakout proves that. He asked that Ray and his men be held for bringing harm to the young women and said, "The evidence shows you should release Smith and Jones and the Tomlinson girls."

"Ray Tomlinson is demanding his men are let go and Smith and Jones go to jail for attempted murder after they left his men tied up in the desert. In any event, I have no reason to hold Ray Tomlinson, Sheriff Trevors." The judge said. "Holding him for testimony from two runaway girls who helped men break jail isn't going to hold up. We have a dilemma here because according to Ray, the girls are in his charge. This remains a family matter for them."

Lom shook his head. "They were clearly justified to try to protect themselves, Your Honor. Besides, I have information that suggests Ray is not really the girls' uncle or heir to the property, but a thief intent on stealing the ranch. He is going to try to force the older one to marry him in order to get it."

The judge asked for information regarding Ray's relationship to the girls, and his true identity, but Lom had no proof Ray had changed his name in order to steal the ranch or other proof he had harmed the girls in any way. "I'd like to pursue this angle myself." Lom told him.

"I would prefer to avoid a trial because I won't be back in town for a few weeks. I understand the situation is difficult for the women but I cannot allow anyone to break men out of jail, either. The only reason I'm willing to work with them is because they returned to explain. As for Bill and Nash, because of the girls' testimony, and their own conflicting stories, they'll remain in custody until tomorrow. This may be too complicated to attempt to make a judgment outside the confines of a trial."

"I understand" Lom nodded once. "Let me ask you, Your Honor, until that time, can Smith and Jones and the girls be freed to make their case against Ray, Bill and Nash? That will allow us some time to gather evidence."

"I'm going out on a limb, Trevors. I have a full schedule and have to shuffle a lot of things to take this case. You got until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I can't hold Ray unless the girls make those specific charges against him. If they do, this case goes to trial for sure. So far, those girls only accused Bill and Nash and I can see by their testimony something is amiss. With all the statements and corroborating evidence, I'm convinced those two men are guilty of molesting the women. Until I have a statement and evidence against Ray, I have to let him go. Bill and Nash will remain in custody, but even they will be released if there is no further testimony, evidence or trial. A hearing will commence first thing tomorrow morning. I suggest Smith and Jones stay clear of that ranch."

"Thank you, Your Honor." Lom placed his hat on his head and nodded again. "Until then…"

Lom waited as the judge talked to Sheriff Carter. For a minute Carter looked like he was going to complain, but clenched his jaw and nodded. Lom followed Carter back to the jail and waited outside until Curry and Heyes and the girls were freed and Ray was called back to the judge.

Lom explained the judge's decision to Sheriff Carter. After they agreed to testify, Carter grudgingly opened the cell for Curry and Heyes, and then for the girls. When Ray balked, the sheriff nodded for him to follow him to go talk to the judge. When Ray disappeared into the hotel, Curry, Heyes and the girls urged Lom to follow them behind the jail house. "This way, our horses are tied down the road."

Lom glared at his friends, lips tight and nodded. The four steered Lom and his horse down the back road until they came across the horses. Melanie mounted behind Heyes and Sara rode with Curry. No one spoke as they made their way to Whitey's. Seeing no guards on the ridge, they rode in to the back of the property and released their horses in the pasture while Whitey awaited them at the back door. The old man ushered the girls in first and got a hug from each one. "We are forever indebted for all this, Whitey." They told him. He smiled broadly, "I see you're out of jail, how did it go?"

"Well…" Sara and Melanie moved inside and at Whitey's invitation they led the way to the library.

Heyes introduced Lom to their host. Then he stopped Whitey to explain how things had changed. "No one was out there to see us arrive, but if we are found here, you could be implicated, Whitey. We can still do this elsewhere."

"Not a chance. We'll worry about that later." Whitey answered. "I want to know what happened!"

Heyes shook his head and gave him a rueful smile. He glanced back at Trevors. "We have to keep Whitey out of this, Lom."

"For Pete's sake Heyes, don't ask me to lie for you! I came out here thinking this was a case of mistaken identity, but you two are in deep! I have to leave for business in Thayer, and there's no way this will be cleared up by then! I knew better than to get involved with…"

"Easy Lom, don't quit on us now." Curry interrupted. "You gotta listen."

Heyes did most of the talking catching Lom up to the present. The only thing he left out was details about their relationships with the girls. In the middle of explaining, Melanie glanced at Sara and indicated with her eyes that the two of them wanted to retreat to clean up and rest. Then Melanie caught Whitey's eye and nodded toward the stairs. Whitey nodded back and they excused themselves.

"I want to remind you all that all four of you have to be there in the morning." Lom watched the girls ascend the stairs to the second level.

Heyes looked hurt. "We won't let you down, Lom."

"I want to speak to those girls and find out just exactly what there is to know about Ray. I don't trust that guy."

"Well, join our little party, Lom. No one does." Curry snorted.

Heyes checked on the girls in the late morning hours after everyone nodded off exhausted from their all-nighter. Lom and Curry snoozed in their chairs, hats down and Heyes fell asleep on the living room sofa. Heyes woke first and checked the front window. Finding his way upstairs, he knocked gently on a bedroom door. Melanie opened the door covering a yawn. "Are two you ok?" Heyes asked.

"We're fine." Melanie yawned again and gave him a lopsided smile raising a finger to her lips indicating Sara was asleep. Heyes pulled her out of the room and took her in his arms. She melted into his bear hug, wrapped her arms around his back, sighing, and laid her head on his shoulder. She had washed and changed clothes and smelled like a flowering meadow. Releasing himself slightly his eyes fell on her mouth. He took the kiss that awaited him and with her animated response, was sent back to the library like the first night, fighting for sobriety.

She finally pulled away and whispered, "I'm so sorry." A tear fell and she continued. "We couldn't be sure you would be released, so we came to get you out of jail. We brought the gun as a backup plan. Later, when we heard Ray would drop all charges, we didn't want you to risk the escape. I didn't know you'd already done it. I wish we didn't leave with Ray. It only made things worse."

"Nooo!" Heyes wiped another tear on her face and pulled the door closed so Sara could sleep. He spoke softly, "You were amazing, both of you! Although what you did was crazy, coming to town dressed that way, handling the sheriff like he was nothin', passing us the gun, taking on Ray," He grinned and his eyes sparkled, "No, that was something else." Melanie gazed at him and a slight frown wrinkled her forehead. Distracted with a thought he quit talking, taking in the facets of her beauty but thinking more about the way she ticked. He shook his head, "We're a lot alike."

Melanie looked at him sideways a smile lit her eyes, "Thanks, I think. That's not a good thing if we both wind up in jail."

Heyes smirked and squeezed her gently. "Hey!" He entreated. "We're free now!"

Sara opened the door, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on? Everything ok?"

"I was telling your sister how brave you two were," Heyes told her. "C'mon, Lom wants to talk to you girls again. We have to figure out what we're gonna do."

Lom and Kid stirred awake and stood as Heyes descended the stairs with the girls. Whitey came in from the kitchen announcing that food was served. The group gathered in the dining room and the girls helped Whitey serve plates of ham, sweet baby carrots from Whitey's garden, and bread.

As they ate, Lom asked Melanie about Ray and she told him everything. "If you and Sara testify against Ray, it might help you, but you have to be consistent. He already thinks you both lied when you each took responsibility for helping Smith and Jones escape." He said.

"Why, what did they say?" Heyes asked.

"Naturally, I took the responsibility." Melanie told them.

"The judge wanted to know which girl passed them the gun." Lom reminded her. "And Sara said she did it. The judge expressed concern for your conflicting testimony."

Melanie looked over at Sara, "You told him you did it? Why did you do that?"

"Because I did give them the gun," Sara said.

Lom raised his brows. "You see? That's a problem for the judge. The girls will have to clear that up. Explain what you were thinking, of course, but these kinds of details leave men like the judge with the idea that those who are not fully honest about one thing, then complain about something else, are at least imprecise or perhaps untrustworthy. It doesn't help your case against Ray. Judges hate to make judgments about domestic issues, and usually settle in favor of the head of the house."

"This is no ordinary domestic issue!" Melanie complained. "I had to protect my sister! Ray has hurt both if us physically, not to mention that he's stealing our ranch! And he's not the man of our house, or our uncle! We weren't leaving without reason! Our lives were in danger! And what about Ray's men; they were going to rape us!"

Lom raised his hands in defense. "Ray's men's attack is a separate issue because you didn't explain what was happening at the ranch with Ray. Smith and Jones could testify, of course, but the only two witnesses with a complaint against Ray are women who helped jailed men escape! I'm just letting you know what you are coming up against." He glanced at the boys,

"You may regret sticking around."

"What are you saying? Don't talk to the judge? We have to testify for the girls!" Heyes argued. "They told us about Ray the day we helped them. This was all about getting them to safety."

Lom turned to Curry and Heyes, "You two escaped with the use of a gun and tied up the sheriff of Green River! No lawman is going to tolerate that kind of behavior!"

"We did it for the girls!" Curry blurted. "Not only that, we returned to show good faith!"

Lom nodded, "I know, Jones. I know. But the laws are the laws and you take a risk admitted to what you've done. And some of us know there are other things that complicate this issue. If the judge doesn't believe one of you or if it comes out that…" He paused.

Heyes interrupted. "Lom, we have to testify."

"All I'm saying is that there is a risk." Lom looked him in the eye. "It may not go well for the two of you." He left the emphasis on 'you'.

"What about the governor?" Curry asked.

Lom almost spat his answer. "Forget the governor! We can't even pretend to get him involved; he would never do that! There's no way any particular judge has to honor the governor under these conditions anyway, even if the governor intervened, which he won't. You're in the judge's jurisdiction. And dare I say, with troubles of your own." He said under his breath. "And that is where you get me into trouble if the judge finds out who he's dealing with."

Curry's jaw worked and Heyes swallowed. "What about the girls, Lom? What about our record which has been clean so far? The law knows we escaped. We can't leave without explanation, or we'll never get what we asked from the governor!"

"There is one hope," Lom admitted. "The judge intends to take your testimony in a hearing, which is less demanding than the details that could come out with lawyers and all in a court of law. But even that is a risk. The girls are going to have to prove Ray is not their uncle, that he's stealing their ranch and a danger to them. But in doing so, we open the risk of having to go to court and revealing that some people are not who they say they are."

Heyes pushed his plate away and stood up. "That's a chance we're going to have to take, Lom."

Curry set his jaw and also stood.

Sara followed, and then Melanie.

Lom blinked several times and looked at his plate before answering. "Ok, we'll do it your way. But you may be putting your am…" He looked around nervously after starting the word, 'amnesty'.

"Don't worry, Lom, the girls know. And so does Whitey." Heyes told him.

Lom continued to sit, and rolled his eyes. "Ok, great. You know this is supposed to be a secret."

Whitey stood up finally. "I too, will testify."

Lom tossed his fork into the middle of the table. "Alright…everyone just sit down." Lom turned to Whitey and said, "For now, the judge doesn't have to know about you. If we leave you out and Ray actually does bring you up, they will have to send for you then and you'll all wind up in court. Your testimony is extra information they don't need up front. Then if you do have to testify, it's important that you didn't know they were hiding on your property and that you didn't find anything out until they were found hiding on your buckboard. If you know more, you'll become an accessory after the fact for giving haven to outlaws who tied up the sheriff and! broke jail!

"Not only that, Whitey," Heyes added. "It may come out that you lent us horses, lied to a deputy, or even helped us escape. That won't work."

Whitey sat back down and looked intently at Lom. "I'm willing to help these people in any way I can. I'm not afraid of the law or Ray Tomlinson."

Heyes smiled at Whitey and said, "We owe you our lives; we can't allow you to get involved any further. Sorry, Whitey I agree with the sheriff, here."

Melanie sat down again and asked Lom, "What if Sara and I show up alone? We'll testify against Ray and his men. Smith and Jones can leave the state. At least everything will be more like it was before we met them." She looked at their host. "Even Whitey will be better off that way. If anyone says anything about us being here, we'll say we hid in the pasture."  
Sara agreed with a nod.

Curry stared at her for a second and blurted, "It's not the same at all, Melanie. If we don't show up, you'll go to jail for helping us to escape, or worse, wind up marrying Ray!"

"How can we go to jail?" Sara interrupted. "The judge let us go free. It's his responsibility now."

Lom shook his head slowly, "That's not quite how it works. The judge may seek justice because they don't show up. On the good side, the judge isn't too keen on taking this case. He even suggested that if no one showed up to testify he'd let the men go. But he didn't say he wouldn't do anything about them escaping jail and he didn't say he wouldn't pursue you girls for bringing them a gun. Something he said makes me think it's possible he'd let you girls off, but I gotta admit, it's only a hunch. I think he just wants the whole thing to go away. As it stands, Ray remains a problem for you."

"We could all leave the state." Melanie said, looking at Heyes.

Lom shot a look at Curry, then back at Heyes. "Is there more here than you've let on, Heyes?"

No one spoke up, wondering just how to explain. Lom clenched his jaw and said, "Ok, I see. This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

"Now, don't go jumping to conclusions, Lom." Heyes spoke up finally. "Kid and I only want to see the girls safe, whatever that takes. Would we like to stay here and see Ray and his men go to jail, yes. But if our testimony doesn't accomplish that for some reason, and the girls don't feel safe, or Ray forces Melanie into marriage, we'll do what we need to do."

Lom compressed his lips and frowned before he asked Melanie, "Leaving with them would mean you and your sister will become fugitives in Wyoming. Are you ready to turn loose of your ranch and leave the territory, too? Are you fully aware of what you're saying?"

Curry spoke up, "That's not an option." He looked at Sara, mixed emotions drawn on his face.

Sara grasped Melanie's hand and said, "We have been preparing to lose the ranch for a long time. We actually did leave it, but that was only because we were forced. It doesn't mean we shouldn't fight for it if we have the chance. Leaving may not be right, but I must admit I would probably go, if that's what we have to do. Having said all that, that's our ranch! It belongs to us. If we walk away, it just shows Ray that he can get away with stealing with no repercussions! I hated that before and I hate it now!"

"I agree Heyes admitted. The girls have a right to their property, and they sure wouldn't have much of a life wandering around the desert southwest on horseback for the rest of their lives. Until that amnesty comes through, we're not in a position to insure their safety. I think we have to testify. We've got to try to get their ranch back and put Ray and his men in jail."

Heyes logic brought silence to the room. Even Curry couldn't deny it. "It's settled, then," Lom said and stood up. "We all show up for the testimony tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we need to try find out Ray's true identity. I've got to go to Green River and check a lead myself."

"Curry spoke up, "You're not going to want to travel alone with Ray and his men out there. Ray knows you're helping us. We'll come with you."

"Sara and I should go, too." Melanie said. "You can't go looking for information without knowing who to talk to, and you guys may need us to…"

Heyes interrupted her. "It's too dangerous. You two have to stay put…if that's alright with Whitey."

Whitey added, "You always have a place with me, girls, you know that."

Sara frowned at Curry, "I'm not sure it's safe here, either. As long as we stay, that's just more trouble for Whitey, potentially. What if Ray and his men come here again? What about Whitey?"

Curry addressed Sara. "You'll have to stay inside, as well as in the passage some of the time, or be ready to use it. Whitey, too! It's not like they'll ever find you there. This is the safest place for all of you." Curry glanced back at Whitey who nodded.

Heyes pointed out, "There is a risk in that too, Kid. What if Ray's men come threatening Whitey or just decide to force their way in? If they go after Whitey, what will the girls do? Who's going to protect things here?"

"I've got the dogs, we will be fine." Whitey said.

Lom added, "You girls should stay here." He pointed to Curry and Heyes, "You two can come with me to Green River right now and you can return here once I get settled in the hotel. I've got a lead in town that may add some weight to the girls' story. I'll stay in Green River for the night and be there to meet the judge. After testifying I have to leave for an appointment in Thayer."

Curry, Heyes and Lom headed to Green River just after dark. There were no riders on the ridge and no indication the house was being watched. Heyes figured Ray had some planning himself, which may buy them the time they needed to slip and out of town, safely. The three men reached Green River a half hour later and they stopped in the alley between the undertaker's shop and the saloon. Lom told them, "Wait here and try not to look conspicuous."

Heyes nodded at a wooden casket setting upright on the porch of the shop next to the saloon. "Don't be too long or some of us are gonna be doing business with this guy."

Lom smirked then slipped between several horses tied out front and went inside the saloon. He stood in the same place at the bar as the first time and glanced around the room, hoping to catch sight of the bar tender who knew more about Ray's true identity. If the man could prove Ray wasn't who he said he was, they'd have some support for their testimony.

"He's not here." A saloon girl told him after Lom stopped her for a beer. "He's busy." She said, setting his drink on the bar.

Lom flashed his badge and asked again. "I need to talk to him."

"Oh!" The girl flushed. "Um, he's…upstairs. If you give him a few minutes, I'm sure he'll be down before too long."

"I would prefer that you went and got him." Lom gave her a wink.

"Ray don't like being interrupted. I'm not sure I can…" The girl moved out from behind the bar edging toward the staircase, glancing up at the second level. Lom nodded, encouraging her to continue on upstairs.

The next moment, Lom saw the problem clear as day. Ray appeared at the top of the stairs and started to descend. The bartender followed. Lom turned his back and waited, casually sipping his beer. He heard the bartender say good night and stalled head down before turning around, waiting until the bartender showed up alone. He could only hope the boys stayed in the shadows as Ray passed them outside.

Glancing around the room to confirm Ray had left, Lom sipped his beer while the bartender stopped to comment on a rowdy poker table, laughing at their jokes and praising the player that won the hand. When he returned to the bar, his face fell.

"Sheriff Lom Trevors." Lom nodded at the man. "I would like to speak to you."

The man blanched asking, "What did I do?"

"Nothin'," Lom shrugged. "Just need to talk."

"Maybe I got nothin' to say." He picked up a rag to wipe the bar.

"I know you got somethin' to say." Lom countered.

"Yea? What do you want to know?"

"I heard Ray wasn't Tomlinson's brother. I'd like to know more about that."

"I can't rightly say I am the one to ask." The man's hand was shaking as he wiped the bar.

"What do you mean? Did Ray threaten you?"

"Look sheriff, I don't want trouble. And if I go talking to anyone about Ray, I'm gonna have lots of it."

"Look, Mr.…uh…"

"Brody, just Brody," The man frowned.

Lom raised his brow, "Brody, the bribe you just accepted from Ray could easily land you in jail. But if you help me, Ray will go away for a very long time. Heck, I'll even let you keep everything he gave you!" Lom swigged the end of his beer and slammed the mug down.

Brody jumped and backed up a step. "Ok, sheriff, but you can't tell anyone I told you, ok?" He lowered his voice. "Ray will kill me!"

"Do you know his real name, Brody?"

Brody looked around, walked to the end of the bar to grab a bottle, checking to see if anyone saw him talking to this stranger at the bar. When he was satisfied no one was watching, he moved a little closer to Lom and continued tidying the bar and said, "His last name is Flynn. He came in from Laramie looking to buy land. Said he had lots of cattle, but never brung any cows. Next thing you know, he's working for Tomlinson callin' the girls his nieces. I knew ol' Tom from way back. Good man. I heard rumors of his brother's death so I was a little surprised when Ray showed up alive. One day, after several years of workin' there, Flynn killed Tom's trail boss. Tom thought it was an accident. Heh, I knew better. With all the rumors out there, I figured it all out right then, that Ray was not only a liar but a killer. Not long after Tom's trail boss passed, the sheriff who was investigating the case died of a heart attack and everything got forgot."

"So Tomlinson pretended Ray was his brother?" Lom asked.

"Sure. Or he was really fooled. No one knows. He did it for the girls either way. His daughters were everything to him, beside the ranch. After the "accidental death" of Chuck Rogers, Tom kept Flynn on to help run the ranch 'cuz he was sick…or afraid. No one dared to say anything for fear of Flynn, and because Tom seemed alright about it, we kept our place. After Tom died, I knew it would be nothin' but trouble for those girls."

"How long has Flynn been paying you off?"

Brody's eyes bulged. "Sheriff, I would never take blood money! He wanted me to watch for Smith and Jones, keep him informed if they came to town, like we were buddies, or something. I told him 'sure'. He left twenty dollars on the desk. But that's all! Ray never talked to me until today!

"All right, Brody, that's fine. You did fine, but we'll need your testimony. The judge is coming here in the morning for a hearing at the hotel."

Brody swallowed. "He'll kill me, sheriff. He told me he's gonna kill the two who escaped jail, Smith and Jones, too. He said it was for Tom."

Lom nodded and set his jaw. Then he asked. "What loyalty does Carter have to Ray?"

"None that I know of…Carter just wants to stay alive. Like the rest of us. Carter met Ray a couple months ago when he came into town one day, passing through for poker and a drink on his way to the ranch. Some wrangler came in, mouthin' off and cheatin', marking the cards. Ray caught him in the act. With a huge pot at stake, Ray was about to kill him. The sheriff busted in and kicked that guy out of town to save his life. Carter knows they ain't friends, but he treats him good cuz he ain't stupid."

Lom touched his hat, thanked Brody and turned to leave just as the swinging doors parted. Ray stood there arms spread, holding the doors. His eyes glittered and his cheek pinched. He didn't even see Lom as he glared at Brody. "Little girl out there talkin'."

One of Ray's men brought the girl through the doors into the saloon. Lom recognized her as the saloon girl from the night before. She had been crying and looked frightened.

"Hope you didn't hurt this girl, Brody." Ray said. Then he turned around and walked out, saloon doors flapping.

Hat low, Lom crossed through the bar and slipped outside to see what was going on. Curry and Heyes were nowhere in sight. The man that dragged the girl out gave her a shove and sent her tripping down the street. Ray called after her, touching the butt of his gun, "Next time, we won't just talk, darlin'." Lom saw a movement in the corner of his eye and swallowed hard. Kid Curry took two strides out of the shadows and said in a level tone, "Ain't no body gonna shove women around in this town."

Ray spun around and went for his gun. The split second Curry didn't waste put the barrel of his gun in Ray's face as Ray's own pistol hung half way out of his holster. More guns came out, chambers whirring, hammers clicking, barrels aimed at Curry. Heyes stood behind two men and whispered, "Drop it boys, or there's lead in yer pants."

Lom barked and cocked his pistol, "Sheriff Lom Trevors! Hold yer' fire!"

Curry didn't' flinch, gun backing up his thoughts.

Men clamored to the saloon doors and several poured out onto the porch. Sheriff Carter came running up and two deputies stepped in guns drawn.

"Sheriff!" Ray whirled around and when he saw Carter, shifted to full height. He cocked his head and sneered, "It can't be much of a town with criminals running free pulling guns on people."

"Town's fine without threats, Ray." Sheriff Trevors called out. The big man's head snapped around and his eyes narrowed when he saw Lom. Carter again commanded everyone to put their guns away. Curry took the cue, flipped his hammer back in place and slowly holstered his gun, eyes on Ray. Ray's men followed, Heyes going last.

"Everybody go home!" Carter called out, "The show's over."

Ray turned back around and dropped his gun in his holster as he glared at Curry. His men followed his lead, retreating, hands on the butts of their guns.

Sheriff Carter nodded at Lom. "Thanks Trevors." Then he turned to Curry and barked, "Get out of my town!"

"I agree. You two get out of here." Lom indicated to his friend to leave. He waited until Curry started away and Ray moved off before he looked back at Carter and said, "Ray's been threatening people and his men manhandled that girl. Jones stepped in for her sake, that's all."

"I don't care." Carter planted his hat on his head. "I'm done with those two."

"That's fine, but you'll need to watch the girl. Ray threatened both her and the bartender. Turns out they know too much about Chuck Rogers."

"Chuck Rogers was a thief." Carter spat on the ground.

"According to…?" Lom asked. "Ray?"

Carter shook his head. "Ray killed him all right, but Rogers called Ray out first. I got it from two different men who were there."

"You heard it from Ray's men?"

"Tomlinson's men," Carter corrected him.

"Who now work for Ray?"

Carter shook his head. "One does. The other one left town a few months ago."

Lom lifted his hat, dusted it off and planted it on his head, "Seems to me Ray is running this town. I'll be at the hotel."  
Heyes backed away as the two sheriff's spoke, disappearing in the alley next to the grocery store across from the saloon. He glanced out and saw Ray lift his chin as if to signal. Following his line of site, Heyes watched a man in the shadows raise his gun, quietly cock the hammer and level it at Curry. The man's bullet left the gun just as Heyes blew the weapon out of the man's hand and Kid Curry hit the ground.

Minutes after the men left for Green River with Lom, Melanie started to pace. "I can't stand this. We've got to go to town! Ray isn't going back to the ranch. He knows we are all here and ready to testify against him. He's going to do something about that, I just know it."

"I've been thinking the same thing." Sara agreed. "What do we do?"

Melanie didn't answer. The girls both looked at the old man, "What do you think?"

Whitey just lifted a brow and a strange look crept over his face.

Twenty minutes later, each one mounted on their own horses, Whitey and the girls snaked along the back trail to Green River. A quick glance at the quiet town was their only hope to sleep better that night though none of them really counted on that.

Men crouched low and moved out of Green River's main road inching back toward the surrounding buildings, guns drawn. All eyes focused on Curry who lay motionless in middle of the street. Another shot rang out and a girl screamed. Men scattered as the girl crumpled to the ground. More guns came out and the bar patrons retreated back behind the swinging doors. Ray dove for cover behind a watering trough and called out, "It was an accident! She was in my way! I was aiming for the one who shot my man! He was gonna shoot again!"

Heyes had seen Ray go for his gun and ducked behind the grocery. He'd already shot and knocked the gun out of the hand of the man who shot Curry but never anticipated that Ray would go for the girl. Feeling guilty, he stood there and ground his teeth, itching to put a bullet in Ray. Glancing out for a quick check, Heyes changed his mind when one of Ray's men took a shot at him. He ducked back behind the grocery store again, pressing himself against the wall and leaned his head back against the wooden siding, gun against his chest.

Sheriff Carter called out from somewhere near the saloon, "I said hold your fire! Put your guns down! I'm coming out! Any man not a deputy holding a weapon is going to get shot!"

Deputies eased in, wagged their guns, encouraging the men to disarm. Hammers released one at a time and Sheriff Carter moved in. Ray's men lifted their heads from behind their chosen covers. The man who shot at Heyes dropped his gun in the dirt as Carter got closer. Ray dropped his pistol when Lom peeked out from behind a horse, gun in hand. Another man stood up and also dropped his gun in the dirt. Two more of Ray's men stood up and put their hands in the air. The sound of boots running against the wooden porch beyond the saloon caught Lom's attention as another man disappeared down the street into the livery.

Heyes checked again, ran out to his partner and turned him over in the dirt. Curry was bleeding from his side. Heyes lifted his shirt to look at the wound. Kid glanced down, reaching a hand up to help. The hole lay just above his waist and off to the side. "I'm ok, he mumbled. Check the girl."

Lom reached the girl first and scooped her limp body into his arms as he called out, "Get a doctor!"

Two deputies stood next to Carter whose gun stayed trained on Ray's men. The Sheriff called over his shoulder, "You're going to jail, Ray!"

"It was an accident I told you! She was in the way! He was about to shoot my man!" Ray, still crouched low turned to glance over his shoulder at Heyes still leaning over his friend. A group of riders approached the scene and when everyone looked up to see who was coming, Ray grabbed his gun.

"Don't do it, Ray!" Lom called out, helpless as he held the wounded girl in his arms.

Chapter 9  
Thursday

The sun rose unobstructed the next morning. Curry sat inside the hotel lobby on a chair and answered the judge's last question. Heyes stood next to him. Sara and Melanie sat behind the boys and Sheriff Carter stood next to Lom. The judge glanced up at the sheriffs, "I'm releasing all defendants, with condition." He lifted his chin in the direction of the girls and said, "You girls are free to go back to your ranch. The court requires nothing else of you and all charges are hereby dismissed."

The girls jumped up, nodded at the judge and hugged each other. Then they turned back to listen as the judge continued, "Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones, this is my verdict regarding the killing of Ray Flynn." He voice was steady, the tone final. "You two will leave this town. You will leave the territory. I cannot allow men like you roaming the streets of Wyoming. While no standing counts remain against you in light of the testimony given, your time here has expired. If you choose to return to the territory of Wyoming, you will both go to jail for the death of Ray Tomlinson. I expect this order to be carried out by one o'clock this afternoon when the train leaves going west. Do I make myself clear?"

Heyes swallowed hard and Curry hung his head. Heyes leaned over to help Curry stand and they answered together, "Yes, your honor."

Melanie covered her mouth and Sara let out a small cry. Everyone shuffled quietly outside, too stunned to speak. Curry numbly reached out to the passing Sheriff Carter and shook his hand. "Thank you for your testimony Sheriff."

Sheriff Carter gave him wary glance and nodded once. When the defendants walked into the street and Lom reached his horse, he drew the reins together to mount. "I'm sorry, boys. I think we were lucky, though. This could have been a lot worse." Lom shook each of the boys' hands and said, "I wish I could stay for the gathering at Whitey's but I'm already late. You two stay out of trouble!" Then he turned to the girls and touched his hat, "Ladies…"

Sara and Melanie mumbled their thanks and the four stood and watched Lom canter off.

Back at the house Whitey lifted his glass to touch the edge of those of his guests. Curry stood at the living room window looking out and finally joined the group standing in the entry way. He took a glass of wine from Whitey and lifted it enthusiastically.

"I can't believe this is happening." Sara spoke first. "It's all so…"

Heyes winced. "Judges do move on, you know. This doesn't have to be permanent."

Curry shot him a hopeful look before he turned to Sara, reached for her hand and pulled her closer. "You know I'll be back," he whispered in her ear.

She smiled at up him, eyes brimming. Then turning away she asked nobody, "Why did Ray go for his gun? It doesn't make sense."

"I wish I knew..." Curry answered.

Heyes left the window to stand next to Melanie sitting on the sofa. "I'm sorry, Melanie," His voice was choked. "When Ray went for his gun, I knew somebody was going to die."

Curry added, "Me too. There was no time to think."

Melanie wiped her eyes, stood up and moved into Heyes' arms laying her head on his chest.

"It's ok. He deserved what he got. At least we're safe now that Ray's men are all in jail."

"I wonder how that girl is doing…" Curry changed the subject, directing his words at Whitey.

"We'll be in Tucson by tomorrow and will wire you as soon as we can…so you can let us know."

Whitey nodded and moved toward the hallway and started up the stairs. "I'll be down before you leave."

Heyes took Melanie by the hand and walked her into the library. They sat on a love seat and looked at each other for a few seconds. She picked at her hands and wiped another tear that escaped. Heyes swallowed the lump in his throat as she laid her head on his chest. "I hate this." She whimpered.

Heyes nodded somberly, "I'm going to miss this place, Whitey, this incredible week…and most of all, you." He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently, "Think of this as temporary. Kid and I have spent most of our lives slipping past all kinds of lawmen…and outlaws." She caught the smile in his voice and knew his dimple was there. His deep voice rumbled against her cheek, "We'll just cool our heels for a while. But we're not done here. Not by a long shot."

Curry took Sara by the hand and sat her on the sofa in the living room. She scooted to one side patting the seat for him to join her when he just stood there and held his side. Wincing as he sat, he watched as Sara reached into a pocket in her skirt, pulled out a gun and handed it to him. It was the fancy one that nearly killed him that day not so long ago. He looked down at it for a while too stunned to speak. He turned the gun over and finding the chambers empty thanked her then pulled her into his arms whispering, "I'd give Smith's $20,000 to stay just one more night here."

Sara giggled, "Smith's 20 grand? What about yours?"

"That too," he smiled.

By noon Curry and Heyes, the girls and Whitey rode along the main road to Green River. They arrived at the train station and when everyone dismounted Heyes gathered the reins of his borrowed horse together with Homer's and handed them all to Whitey. "Thank you sir; we are indebted to you."

Whitey took the horses and nodded at him. Unable to hold a steady smile, he turned away and led the horses to a hitching post. The group walked quietly to the station window. After purchasing the boys' tickets the five moved down to the last car behind the idling train engine. Heyes caught sight of Sheriff Carter leaning against a wall and casually saluted. Carter touched the brim of his hat then lifted his hand in goodbye. Everyone hugged again parting when steam shot from the side of the engine and the whistle blew.

Heyes removed his hat and pulled Melanie closer. She reached for his hand, placed her pocket watch into his palm and folded his fingers over it. He frowned, and objected, but she shook her head and reached up to indulge one last kiss which Heyes happily returned. Curry nodded at Sara then glanced back at the couple embracing. He indicating with a thumb and an exasperated smile Melanie and Heyes still wrapped together in their kiss. The two parted only when Curry poked his partner in the back as the train started to move. Heyes looked over and said, "What did I tell you, Kid?"

Curry smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Not to break her heart."

Heyes backed away, reset his hat and gave Melanie a resigned wink. The two men stepped onto to the back deck of the caboose and sent a simultaneous salute to the group as the train moved out.

Curry and Heyes rode along in silence alone in their car watching out their own windows on opposite sides of the aisle as Wyoming slid past them. Kid pulled out the gun Sara had given him. He flipped a lever and released the mechanism to look inside. Someone had taken great care to polish the sear and the hammer was bobbed. Sara was right! It was a hair trigger gun! Curry winced, then slipped the parts back together and turned it over in his hands, wondering who had the know-how to finish a weapon so deadly.

"I had no choice." Curry finally spoke after they had traveled a few miles. Regret choked his voice, "When Ray reach for his gun to shoot you…that was it!"

"I know. I was thinkin' the same thing." Heyes clicked the pocket watch open then closed it again, running a finger over the golden finish. Another mile went by before Heyes said, "You know Kid…that's the first time I've ever outgunned you."

Curry looked at him with a frown, "It was close. But I definitely got him first."

"If you say so," Heyes grinned.

Curry stared at his partner for a minute before he shook his head and looked away. He eased down in his seat pulling the brim of his hat down over his eyes. "You know, you're right Heyes. We got a long ride ahead. There's no reason we both can't settle for a good fantasy."

 ** **The End****


End file.
